Enhanced role of eddies in the Arctic marine biological pump

Eiji Watanabe (), Jonaotaro Onodera, Naomi Harada, Makio C. Honda, Katsunori Kimoto, Takashi Kikuchi, Shigeto Nishino, Kohei Matsuno, Atsushi Yamaguchi, Akio Ishida and Michio J. Kishi
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Eiji Watanabe: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Jonaotaro Onodera: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Naomi Harada: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Makio C. Honda: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Katsunori Kimoto: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Takashi Kikuchi: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Shigeto Nishino: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Kohei Matsuno: National Institute of Polar Research
Atsushi Yamaguchi: Hokkaido University
Akio Ishida: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Michio J. Kishi: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The future conditions of Arctic sea ice and marine ecosystems are of interest not only to climate scientists, but also to economic and governmental bodies. However, the lack of widespread, year-long biogeochemical observations remains an obstacle to understanding the complicated variability of the Arctic marine biological pump. Here we show an early winter maximum of sinking biogenic flux in the western Arctic Ocean and illustrate the importance of shelf-break eddies to biological pumping from wide shelves to adjacent deep basins using a combination of year-long mooring observations and three-dimensional numerical modelling. The sinking flux trapped in the present study included considerable fresh organic material with soft tissues and was an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. We predict that further reductions in sea ice will promote the entry of Pacific-origin biological species into the Arctic basin and accelerate biogeochemical cycles connecting the Arctic and subarctic oceans.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4950

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