Physicochemical controls on the initiation of phytoplankton bloom during the winter monsoon in the Arabian Sea

R S Lakshmi,Satya Prakash,Biraja K Sahu,Alakes Samanta,Sanjiba K Baliarsingh,Abhisek Chatterjee,Teesha Mathew,Aneesh A Lotliker,T M Balakrishnan Nair

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92897-3

R S Lakshmi, Satya Prakash + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92897-3

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Occurrence of phytoplankton bloom in the northern Arabian Sea (NAS) during the winter monsoon is perplexing. The convective mixing leads to a deeper and well-oxygenated (> 95% saturation) mixed layer. We encountered low chlorophyll conditions though the nutrient conditions were favorable for a bloom. The mean ratio of silicate (Si) to DIN (Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen: nitrate + nitrite + ammonium) in the euphotic zone was 0.52 indicating a “silicate-stressed” condition for the proliferation of diatoms. Also, the euphotic depth was much shallower (~ 49 m) than the mixed layer (~ 110 m) suggesting the Sverdrup critical depth limitation in the NAS. We show that the bloom in this region initiates only when the mixed layer shoals towards the euphotic zone. Our observations further suggest that two primary factors, the stoichiometric ratio of nutrients, especially the Si/DIN ratio, in the mixed layer and re-stratification of the upper water column, govern the phytoplankton blooming in NAS during the later winter monsoon. The important finding of the present study is that the Sverdrup’s critical depth limitation gives rise to the observed low chl-a concentration in the NAS, despite having enough nutrients.

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For estimation of chl-a, a known volume of water sample was filtered onto glass fiber filters (47 mm diameter with pore size 0.7 μm) and stored in liquid nitrogen until downstream analysis
The Zeu was calculated using the diffuse attenuation coefficient of downward irradiance at 490 nm (Kd(490)) with a spatial resolution of 4 km obtained from MODIS-Aqua
The euphotic depth was calculated using the exponential equation of light intensity, I = Ioexp (−kPARZ)

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A Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD; make: Sea-Bird Scientific, model: 19Plus) along with Fluorometer Water samples were collected at six hours interval per day at each station up to 1000 m depth with the upper 100 m being sampled at an interval of 10 m. For estimation of chl-a, a known volume of water sample was filtered onto glass fiber filters (47 mm diameter with pore size 0.7 μm) and stored in liquid nitrogen until downstream analysis.

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