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On the temperature dependence of oceanic export efficiency
Author(s) -
Cael B. B.,
Follows Michael J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068877
Subject(s) - photic zone , constraint (computer aided design) , envelope (radar) , production (economics) , environmental science , computer science , statistical physics , mathematics , physics , chemistry , economics , radar , macroeconomics , telecommunications , geometry , organic chemistry , phytoplankton , nutrient
Abstract Quantifying the fraction of primary production exported from the euphotic layer (termed the export efficiency ef ) is a complicated matter. Studies have suggested empirical relationships with temperature which offer attractive potential for parameterization. Here we develop what is arguably the simplest mechanistic model relating the two, using established thermodynamic dependencies for primary production and respiration. It results in a single‐parameter curve that constrains the envelope of possible efficiencies, capturing the upper bounds of several ef‐T data sets. The approach provides a useful theoretical constraint on this relationship and extracts the variability in ef due to temperature but does not idealize out the remaining variability which evinces the substantial complexity of the system in question.