Hurricane-Induced Marine Nutrient and Carbon Responses in the Upper Ocean

Hurricanes alter air-sea carbon flux through both physical and biological processes. This study

performs and analyzes a series of idealized and realistic coupled physical-biological modeling

case studies to explore the relative importance of the intrinsic physical and biological

mechanisms behind hurricane-induced right-hand bias, changes in the upper ocean nutrient

content, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in water (pCO₂w). Our model analyses show that

for storms with slower translation speeds, hurricane-induced upper ocean nutrient enhancement

and phytoplankton blooms can be just as important as sea surface temperature decrease in

reducing pCO₂w. For storms with faster translation speeds, only physical factors influence

pCO₂w. As patterns of hurricane intensity and translation speed are expected to vary

significantly in the face of climate change, the development of coupled air-sea

physical-biological models that can accurately model synoptic, mesoscale, and submesoscale

ocean responses is much needed to fully understand the ocean’s role in the global carbon budget.