Quantifying the Biogeochemical Role of Marine Microbes at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) Site
Abstract
Marine microorganisms are responsible for nearly half of the primary production in the global ocean, implying that they pose a significant impact on biogeochemical processes, particularly that of carbon. As these microorganisms affect the chemical composition of their marine environment, other seasonal processes, in turn, affect microorganisms and their biogeochemical processes. To constrain our research goal to better understand and model the effects of chemical cycling in the upper ocean on microbial processes, we focused on two types of microorganisms, heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton, at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series (BATS; since 1988) site in the Sargasso Sea. Using BATS observations of the cellular abundance and productivity of both heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton, including chlorophyll, primary production, bacterial production and biomass, we relate the changes in these microbial processes to physical changes and also with each other, with the intention to later constrain biogeochemical models of the impact of physical parameters on the coupling of the bacteria and phytoplankton. Our results will offer a new understanding of the nuances in microbial responses to the complex range of physical change in the Sargasso Sea, which is bounded by four major Atlantic currents, and how these responses, in turn, shape the chemical composition of it.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMOS0360018S
- Keywords:
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- 4899 General or miscellaneous;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL;
- 4899 General or miscellaneous;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL;
- 4299 General or miscellaneous;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL