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Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 08:09 authored by Martiny, AC, Lomas, MW, Fu, W, Philip BoydPhilip Boyd, Chen, YlL, Cutter, GA, Ellwood, MJ, Furuya, K, Hashihama, F, Kanda, J, Karl, DM, Kodama, T, Li, QP, Ma, J, Moutin, T, Woodward, EMS, Moore, JK
Surface ocean phosphate is commonly below the standard analytical detection limits, leading to an incomplete picture of the global variation and biogeochemical role of phosphate. A global compilation of phosphate measured using high-sensitivity methods revealed several previously unrecognized low-phosphate areas and clear regional differences. Both observational climatologies and Earth system models (ESMs) systematically overestimated surface phosphate. Furthermore, ESMs misrepresented the relationships between phosphate, phytoplankton biomass, and primary productivity. Atmospheric iron input and nitrogen fixation are known important controls on surface phosphate, but model simulations showed that differences in the iron-to-macronutrient ratio in the vertical nutrient supply and surface lateral transport are additional drivers of phosphate concentrations. Our study demonstrates the importance of accurately quantifying nutrients for understanding the regulation of ocean ecosystems and biogeochemistry now and under future climate conditions.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Science Advances

Volume

5

Issue

8

Article number

eaax0341

Number

eaax0341

Pagination

1-10

ISSN

2375-2548

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Place of publication

United States

Rights statement

Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)

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