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Increased surface seawater p CO 2 in the eastern Bering Sea shelf: An effect of blooms of coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi ?
Author(s) -
Murata Akihiko
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/2005gb002615
Subject(s) - emiliania huxleyi , oceanography , seawater , environmental science , bloom , latitude , phytoplankton , algal bloom , atmospheric sciences , geology , biology , ecology , nutrient , geodesy
Increased surface seawater p CO 2 observed in the eastern Bering Sea shelf (long 168°W–160°W; lat 54°N–68°N) were examined in relation to blooms of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi , using data obtained from R/V Mirai cruises once or twice annually (August–October 1998–2002). A principal component analysis demonstrated that there are two spatial scales of p CO 2 variability associated with E. huxleyi blooms. One is a small‐scale variation (∼0.2° in latitude), which shows a decrease of p CO 2 by 18 μ atm relative to surrounding waters. The other is a large‐scale variation (∼10.0° in latitude), with spatial gradient in p CO 2 of up to 250 μ atm. Detailed analyses show that the large‐scale variation is associated with diatom blooms, while the small‐scale variation is associated with coccolithophorid blooms with a calcification:photosynthesis = 1.0, and thus that seawater p CO 2 is affected by the composition of marine ecosystems and its response to climate variability. SST rise also contributed to increased p CO 2 .