Physical processes that enhance nutrient transport and primary productivity in the coastal and open ocean of the subarctic NE Pacific

Abstract

Abstract In comparison to the open ocean, several additional processes including coastal upwelling, river discharge, tidal mixing, estuarine circulation and benthic remineralization enhance nutrient supply to the surface waters of the continental shelf. In general, coastal waters become nitrate-limited during the phytoplankton growing season, whereas iron and dissolved silicate limit phytoplankton growth in the less productive oceanic waters of the Gulf of Alaska. If coastal processes supply ample amounts of macro and micro nutrients during the growing season, diatom communities dominated by species such as Skeletomema costatum, Chaetoceros spp. and Thalassiosira spp. will bloom. Growth rates of these bloom populations typically range from 0.5 to >1.5 doublings per day, which place a high demand on nutrients. Any transport of coastal waters away from the shelf will enhance productivity in oceanic waters. The general circulation of the eastern subarctic Pacific does not allow for offshore transport except in special circumstances. These include anticyclonic mesoscale eddy formation, which can export as much as 5000 km 3 of nutrient-rich waters from the shelf in a single eddy, and recirculation of waters away from southwestern Alaska due to the cyclonic circulation around the western edge of the Alaskan Gyre. Recirculation can carry nutrient-rich water from the coast to the vicinity of Ocean Station Papa (50°N, 145°W) within a few months. For both eddies and gyre recirculation, much of the water being carried into the open ocean lies below the euphotic zone. Iron enrichment occurs to a depth of at least 1000 m in the Gulf of Alaska as a result. Periods of enhanced eddy formation or recirculation may supply iron that enriches the open ocean for several years. Damming of the Columbia River and human uses of its waters have resulted in more winter and less summer discharge of fresh water and dissolved Si. Coastal currents in this area flow north in winter and south in summer. As a consequence, there has been a net temporal change in Si inputs to the ocean since the mid 1970s, with about 4×10 9 mol more Si flowing north in winter and 9×10 9 mol less Si flowing south in summer compared with the early 1900s. Since silicate limits diatom growth and diatoms are responsible for most carbon export in phytoplankton, implications for ocean productivity are significant.