Oxygen photolysis in the Mauritanian upwelling: Implications for net community production

Kitidis, Vassilis, Tilstone, Gavin, Serret, Pablo, Smyth, Timothy, Torres, Ricardo and Robinson, Carol ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3033-4565 (2014) Oxygen photolysis in the Mauritanian upwelling: Implications for net community production. Limnology and Oceanography, 59 (2). pp. 299-310. ISSN 1939-5590

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Abstract

We carried out 16 photochemical experiments of filtered surface water in a custom-built solar simulator and concomitant measurements of in vitro gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R) in the Mauritanian upwelling during a Lagrangian study following three sulfur hexafluoride–labeled patches of upwelled water (P1 to P3). Oxygen photolysis rates were correlated with the absorbance of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) at 300 nm, suggesting first-order kinetics with respect to CDOM. An exponential fit was used to calculate the apparent quantum yield (AQY) for oxygen photolysis, giving an average AQY of 0.00053 mmol O2 (mole photons m22 s21)21 at 280 nm and slope of 0.0012 nm21. Modeled photochemical oxygen demand (POD) at the surface (3–16 mmol m23 d21) occasionally exceeded R and was dominated by ultraviolet radiation (71– 79%). Euphotic-layer integrated GPP decreased with time during both P-1 and P-3, whereas R remained relatively constant and POD increased during P-1 and decreased during P-3. On Day 4 of P-3, GPP and POD maxima coincided with high CDOM absorbance, suggesting ‘‘new’’ CDOM production. Omitting POD may lead to an underestimation of net community production (NCP), both through in vitro and geochemical methods (here by 2–22%). We propose that oxygen-based NCP estimates should be revised upward. For the Mauritanian upwelling, the POD-corrected NCP was strongly correlated with standard NCP with a slope of 1.0066 6 0.0244 and intercept of 46.51 6 13.15 mmol m22 d21.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 04 Jul 2014 12:53
Last Modified: 24 Oct 2022 06:28
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/48992
DOI: 10.4319/lo.2014.59.2.0299

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