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ToolsLiu, Yunchen, He, Qingyou, Zhan, Weikang, Guo, Minxian, Zheng, Yuhang, Shen, Xinchen and Zhan, Haigang (2025) Heterogeneity of phytoplankton response to submesoscale processes in the global ocean. Communications Earth & Environment, 6. ISSN 2662-4435
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Abstract
Oceanic submesoscale processes are believed to play a pivotal role in influencing phytoplankton growth and distribution, essentially influencing oceanic primary productivity and carbon cycling. However, our understanding of how phytoplankton respond to these dynamics remains fragmentary. Here, by combining surface drifter data and satellite observations, we show a rich geographic variability in the response of phytoplankton to submesoscale ageostrophic events over the global ocean. Substantial phytoplankton biomass and chlorophyll enrichments are observed during submesoscale processes in mid-high latitude regions and coastal upwelling systems. However, negligible phytoplankton biomass increases with notable chlorophyll increases are observed in the tropical ocean and subtropical gyres, suggesting that phytoplankton are likely undergoing physiological adjustments. Globally, about half of the chlorophyll growth driven by strong submesoscale ageostrophic events is due to physiological adjustments rather than biomass enrichment, calling for a reevaluation of the effects of submesoscale processes on oceanic productivity and carbon cycling.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Data availability: The satellite-measured chlorophyll, particulate backscattering coefficients, photosynthetically active radiation and attenuation coefficient for downwelling photosynthetically active radiation data are available on GlobColour (https://hermes.acri.fr/). The altimeter products and GLORYS12v1 data can be obtained from CMEMS (https://marine.copernicus.eu/). The drifter data can be accessed from this website (https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/gdp/data.php/). The WOD data were made freely available (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/world-ocean-database). The climatological Nitrate and mixed layer depth data can be accessed from World Ocean Atlas (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/world-ocean-atlas-2018/). BGC-Argo data can be downloaded from Biogeochemical-Argo program (https://biogeochemical-argo.org/). Code availability: Codes for the main results are available via GitHub at https://github.com/fredette0714/Submesoscale-Phytoplankton/. |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Dec 2025 09:30 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2025 10:31 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101155 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s43247-025-02365-3 |
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