PP11A:
Subsurface and Subseasonal Productivity: Mechanisms, Magnitudes, Variability, and Key Species I


Session ID#: 11536

Session Description:
Our understanding of oceanic primary production and producers has been dominated by sampling of the surface ocean (typically < 20m). Similarly, our knowledge of global patterns of primary production has been led by ocean colour measurements from satellite sensors that again, have surface bias. During the 20th Century there were few systematic attempts to target the subsurface resulting in a gap dating back to Schimper’s pioneering use of closing nets on the 1898 Valdivia cruise. Over the past two decades, however, a burgeoning suite of observations has highlighted the significance of subsurface production. A range of mechanisms have been identified including the ability to grow in low light in subsurface chlorophyll maxima, exploitation of mixing events at the pycnocline/ nutricline, buoyancy regulation allowing the mining of deep nutrients. Significantly, new research is also demonstrating that this subsurface production may be of major significance for carbon export. With climate change driving increased ocean stratification, these styles of subsurface production may become more significant so it is timely to focus on them. This session will aim to bring together observation, theory and modelling of the subsurface to synergistically improve understanding and to identify new targets and priorities for research.
Primary Chair:  Alan E S Kemp, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom
Chairs:  Bror F Jonsson1, Tracy A Villareal2 and Joseph Salisbury II1, (1)University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States(2)The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, United States
Moderators:  Bror F Jonsson, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States and Alan E S Kemp, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Alan E S Kemp, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom
Index Terms:

4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4845 Nutrients and nutrient cycling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4855 Phytoplankton [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4858 Population dynamics and ecology [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • B - Biogeochemistry and Nutrients
  • ME - Marine Ecosystems
  • MM - Microbiology and Molecular Biology
  • PC - Past, Present and Future Climate

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Subsurface phytoplankton layers in the Arctic Ocean (93345)
Jean-Eric Tremblay, Laval University, Biologie, Quebec City, QC, Canada
What insights can satellite data provide about the subsurface? (88062)
Cara Wilson, NOAA, Boulder, CO, United States and James H Churnside, NOAA Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
Primary Production and Photophysiology of Phytoplankton Forming Subsurface Chlorophyll Maxima in a UK Summer Stratified Coastal Sea (90316)
Michelle Barnett1, Alan E S Kemp2, Anna E Hickman1 and Duncan A Purdie1, (1)University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, United Kingdom, (2)University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom
Inorganic Nutrient Diffusion at the Base of the Nutricline and its Association with the Deep Chlorophyll a Maximum Layer (90612)
Benedetto Barone1, Robert Bidigare1, Glenn S Carter2, Matthew J Church1, Rhea Foreman1 and David M Karl3, (1)University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, (2)University of Hawaii at Manoa, Oceanography, Honolulu, HI, United States, (3)Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
Alterations in Location, Magnitude, and Community Composition of Discrete Layers of Phytoplankton in Cold, Deep Waters Near the 1% Isolume of the Laurentian Great Lake Michigan Among Years With Dramatically Different Meteorological Conditions (93649)
Russell Lee Cuhel and Carmen Aguilar, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
What if the Diatoms of the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum Can Ascend? (92385)
Tracy A Villareal, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
Seasonal Progression and Interannual Variability of Nutrient and Chlorophyll-a Distributions in the Northern Gulf of Alaska, 1998-2010 (93454)
Katherine Trahanovsky and Terry E Whitledge, University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Fairbanks, AK, United States