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- Title
Linking deep convection and phytoplankton blooms in the northern Labrador Sea in a changing climate.
- Authors
Balaguru, Karthik; Doney, Scott C.; Bianucci, Laura; Rasch, Philip J.; Leung, L. Ruby; Yoon, Jin-Ho; Lima, Ivan D.
- Abstract
Wintertime convective mixing plays a pivotal role in the sub-polar North Atlantic spring phytoplankton blooms by favoring phytoplankton survival in the competition between light-dependent production and losses due to grazing and gravitational settling. We use satellite and ocean reanalyses to show that the area-averaged maximum winter mixed layer depth is positively correlated with April chlorophyll concentration in the northern Labrador Sea. A simple theoretical framework is developed to understand the relative roles of winter/spring convection and gravitational sedimentation in spring blooms in this region. Combining climate model simulations that project a weakening of wintertime Labrador Sea convection from Arctic sea ice melt with our framework suggests a potentially significant reduction in the initial fall phytoplankton population that survive the winter to seed the region’s spring bloom by the end of the 21st century.
- Subjects
LABRADOR Sea; OCEAN convection; PHYTOPLANKTON; CHLOROPHYLL; ALGAL blooms
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2018, Vol 13, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0191509