Hansell
Dennis A.
Hansell
Dennis A.
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ArticleTracer-based assessment of the origin and biogeochemical transformation of a cyclonic eddy in the Sargasso Sea(American Geophysical Union, 2008-10-11) Li, Qian P. ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; McGillicuddy, Dennis J. ; Bates, Nicholas R. ; Johnson, Rodney J.Mechanisms of nutrient supply in oligotrophic ocean systems remain inadequately understood and quantified. In the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, for example, the observed rates of new production are apparently not balanced by nutrient supply via vertical mixing. Mesoscale eddies have been hypothesized as a mechanism for vertical nutrient pumping into the euphotic zone, but the full range and magnitude of biogeochemical impacts by eddies remain uncertain. We evaluated a cyclonic eddy located near Bermuda for its effect on water column biogeochemistry. In the density range σ θ 26.1 to 26.7, an eddy core with anomalous salinity, temperature, and biogeochemical properties was observed, suggesting that the eddy was not formed with local water (i.e., not formed of the waters surrounding the eddy at the time of observations), hence complicating efforts to quantify biogeochemical processes in the eddy. We combined conservative hydrographic tracers (density versus potential temperature and salinity) and quasi-conservative biogeochemical tracers (density versus NO, PO, and total organic carbon) to propose the origin of the eddy core water to have been several hundred kilometers to the southeast of the eddy location at sampling. By comparing the observed eddy core's biogeochemical properties with those near the proposed origin, we estimate the net changes in biogeochemical properties that occurred. A conservative estimate of export was 0.5 ± 0.34 mol N m−2 via sinking particles, with export occurring prior to our period of direct observation. Our results suggest that biogeochemical signals induced by mesoscale eddies could survive to be transported over long distances, thus providing a mechanism for lateral fluxes of nutrients and AOU (apparent oxygen utilization). Given that the proposed source area of this eddy is relatively broad, and the eddy-mixing history before our sampling is unknown, uncertainty remains in our assessment of the true biogeochemical impact of mesoscale eddies in the gyre.
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ArticleNutrient distributions in baroclinic eddies of the oligotrophic North Atlantic and inferred impacts on biology(Elsevier B.V., 2008-05-07) Li, Qian P. ; Hansell, Dennis A.
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ArticleRadiocarbon content of dissolved organic carbon in the South Indian Ocean(John Wiley & Sons, 2018-01-24) Bercovici, Sarah K. ; McNichol, Ann P. ; Xu, Li ; Hansell, Dennis A.We report four profiles of the radiocarbon content of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) spanning the South Indian Ocean (SIO), ranging from the Polar Front (56°S) to the subtropics (29°S). Surface waters held mean DOC Δ14C values of −426 ± 6‰ (~4,400 14C years) at the Polar Front and DOC Δ14C values of −252 ± 22‰ (~2,000 14C years) in the subtropics. At depth, Circumpolar Deep Waters held DOC Δ14C values of −491 ± 13‰ (~5,400 years), while values in Indian Deep Water were more depleted, holding DOC Δ14C values of −503 ± 8‰ (~5,600 14C years). High-salinity North Atlantic Deep Water intruding into the deep SIO had a distinctly less depleted DOC Δ14C value of −481 ± 8‰ (~5,100 14C years). We use multiple linear regression to assess the dynamics of DOC Δ14C values in the deep Indian Ocean, finding that their distribution is characteristic of water masses in that region.
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ArticleEddy transport of organic carbon and nutrients from the Chukchi Shelf : impact on the upper halocline of the western Arctic Ocean(American Geophysical Union, 2007-05-04) Mathis, Jeremy T. ; Pickart, Robert S. ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Kadko, David ; Bates, Nicholas R.In September 2004 a detailed physical and chemical survey was conducted on an anticyclonic, cold-core eddy located seaward of the Chukchi Shelf in the western Arctic Ocean. The eddy had a diameter of ∼16 km and was centered at a depth of ∼160 m between the 1000 and 1500 m isobaths over the continental slope. The water in the core of the eddy (total volume of 25 km3) was of Pacific origin, and contained elevated concentrations of nutrients, organic carbon, and suspended particles. The feature, which likely formed from the boundary current along the edge of the Chukchi Shelf, provides a mechanism for transport of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients directly into the upper halocline of the Canada Basin. Nutrient concentrations in the eddy core were elevated compared to waters of similar density in the deep Canada Basin: silicate (+20 μmol L−1), nitrate (+5 μmol L−1), and phosphate (+0.4 μmol L−1). Organic carbon in the eddy core was also elevated: POC (+3.8 μmol L−1) and DOC (+11 μmol L−1). From these observations, the eddy contained 1.25 × 109 moles Si, 4.5 × 108 moles NO3 −, 5.5 × 107 moles PO3 −, 1.2 × 108 moles POC, and 1.9 × 109 moles DOC, all available for transport to the interior of the Canada Basin. This suggests that such eddies likely play a significant role in maintaining the nutrient maxima observed in the upper halocline. Assuming that shelf-to-basin eddy transport is the dominant renewal mechanism for waters of the upper halocline, remineralization of the excess organic carbon transported into the interior would consume 6.70 × 1010 moles of O2, or one half the total oxygen consumption anticipated arising from all export processes impacting the upper halocline.
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ArticleLinkages among runoff, dissolved organic carbon, and the stable oxygen isotope composition of seawater and other water mass indicators in the Arctic Ocean(American Geophysical Union, 2005-12-07) Cooper, Lee W. ; Benner, Ronald ; McClelland, James W. ; Peterson, Bruce J. ; Holmes, Robert M. ; Raymond, Peter A. ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M. ; Codispoti, Louis A.Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and δ18O values have been determined following sampling of runoff from a number of major arctic rivers, including the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, Kolyma, Mackenzie and Yukon in 2003-2004. These data are considered in conjunction with marine data for DOC, δ18O values, nutrients, salinity, and fluorometric indicators of DOC that were obtained as part of the Shelf-Basin Interactions program at the continental shelf-basin boundary of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. These marine data indicate that the freshwater component is most likely derived from regional sources, such as the Mackenzie, the Bering Strait inflow and possibly eastern Siberian rivers, including the Kolyma, or the Lena but not rivers further west in the Eurasian arctic. Contributions of freshwater from melted sea ice to marine surface waters appeared to be insignificant over annual cycles compared to runoff, although on a seasonal basis, freshwater from melted sea ice was locally dominant following a major sea-ice retreat into the Canada Basin in 2002. DOC concentrations were correlated with the runoff fraction, with an apparent meteoric water DOC concentration of 174 ± 1 μM (standard error). This concentration is lower than the flow-weighted concentrations measured at river mouths of the five largest Arctic rivers (358 to 917 μM), indicating that removal of terrigenous DOC during transport through estuaries, shelves and in the deep basin. DOC data indicate that flow-weighted concentrations in the two largest North American arctic rivers, the Yukon (625μM) and the Mackenzie (382 μM), are lower than in the three largest Eurasian arctic rivers, the Ob (825 μM), the Yenesey (858 μM) and the Lena (917 μM). A fluorometric indicator of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) that has provided estimates of terrigenous DOC concentrations in the Eurasian Arctic was not correlated with DOC concentrations in the Amerasian marine waters studied, except below the upper Arctic Ocean halocline. Nutrient distributions and concentrations as well as derived nutrient ratios suggest the CDOM fluorometer may be responding to the release of chromophoric materials from continental shelf sediments. Shipboard incubation experiments with undisturbed sediment cores indicate that continental shelf sediments on the Bering and Chukchi Sea shelves are likely to be a net source of DOC to the Arctic Ocean.
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ArticleThe transpolar drift as a source of riverine and shelf-derived trace elements to the central Arctic Ocean(American Geophysical Union, 2020-04-08) Charette, Matthew A. ; Kipp, Lauren ; Jensen, Laramie T. ; Dabrowski, Jessica S. ; Whitmore, Laura M. ; Fitzsimmons, Jessica N. ; Williford, Tatiana ; Ulfsbo, Adam ; Jones, Elizabeth M. ; Bundy, Randelle M. ; Vivancos, Sebastian M. ; Pahnke, Katharina ; John, Seth G. ; Xiang, Yang ; Hatta, Mariko ; Petrova, Mariia V. ; Heimbürger, Lars-Eric ; Bauch, Dorothea ; Newton, Robert ; Pasqualini, Angelica ; Agather, Alison ; Amon, Rainer M. W. ; Anderson, Robert F. ; Andersson, Per S. ; Benner, Ronald ; Bowman, Katlin ; Edwards, R. Lawrence ; Gdaniec, Sandra ; Gerringa, Loes J. A. ; González, Aridane G. ; Granskog, Mats A. ; Haley, Brian ; Hammerschmidt, Chad R. ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Henderson, Paul B. ; Kadko, David C. ; Kaiser, Karl ; Laan, Patrick ; Lam, Phoebe J. ; Lamborg, Carl H. ; Levier, Martin ; Li, Xianglei ; Margolin, Andrew R. ; Measures, Christopher I. ; Middag, Rob ; Millero, Frank J. ; Moore, Willard S. ; Paffrath, Ronja ; Planquette, Helene ; Rabe, Benjamin ; Reader, Heather ; Rember, Robert ; Rijkenberg, Micha J. A. ; Roy-Barman, Matthieu ; van der Loeff, Michiel Rutgers ; Saito, Mak A. ; Schauer, Ursula ; Schlosser, Peter ; Sherrell, Robert M. ; Shiller, Alan M. ; Slagter, Hans ; Sonke, Jeroen E. ; Stedmon, Colin ; Woosley, Ryan J. ; Valk, Ole ; van Ooijen, Jan ; Zhang, RuifengA major surface circulation feature of the Arctic Ocean is the Transpolar Drift (TPD), a current that transports river‐influenced shelf water from the Laptev and East Siberian Seas toward the center of the basin and Fram Strait. In 2015, the international GEOTRACES program included a high‐resolution pan‐Arctic survey of carbon, nutrients, and a suite of trace elements and isotopes (TEIs). The cruises bisected the TPD at two locations in the central basin, which were defined by maxima in meteoric water and dissolved organic carbon concentrations that spanned 600 km horizontally and ~25–50 m vertically. Dissolved TEIs such as Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Hg, Nd, and Th, which are generally particle‐reactive but can be complexed by organic matter, were observed at concentrations much higher than expected for the open ocean setting. Other trace element concentrations such as Al, V, Ga, and Pb were lower than expected due to scavenging over the productive East Siberian and Laptev shelf seas. Using a combination of radionuclide tracers and ice drift modeling, the transport rate for the core of the TPD was estimated at 0.9 ± 0.4 Sv (106 m3 s−1). This rate was used to derive the mass flux for TEIs that were enriched in the TPD, revealing the importance of lateral transport in supplying materials beneath the ice to the central Arctic Ocean and potentially to the North Atlantic Ocean via Fram Strait. Continued intensification of the Arctic hydrologic cycle and permafrost degradation will likely lead to an increase in the flux of TEIs into the Arctic Ocean.
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ArticleLinkages among dissolved organic matter export, dissolved metabolites, and associated microbial community structure response in the northwestern Sargasso Sea on a seasonal scale(Frontiers Media, 2022-03-08) Liu, Shuting ; Longnecker, Krista ; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B. ; Vergin, Kevin ; Bolaños, Luis M. ; Giovannoni, Stephen J. ; Parsons, Rachel J. ; Opalk, Keri ; Halewood, Elisa ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Johnson, Rodney J. ; Curry, Ruth G. ; Carlson, Craig A.Deep convective mixing of dissolved and suspended organic matter from the surface to depth can represent an important export pathway of the biological carbon pump. The seasonally oligotrophic Sargasso Sea experiences annual winter convective mixing to as deep as 300 m, providing a unique model system to examine dissolved organic matter (DOM) export and its subsequent compositional transformation by microbial oxidation. We analyzed biogeochemical and microbial parameters collected from the northwestern Sargasso Sea, including bulk dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved amino acids (TDAA), dissolved metabolites, bacterial abundance and production, and bacterial community structure, to assess the fate and compositional transformation of DOM by microbes on a seasonal time-scale in 2016–2017. DOM dynamics at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site followed a general annual trend of DOC accumulation in the surface during stratified periods followed by downward flux during winter convective mixing. Changes in the amino acid concentrations and compositions provide useful indices of diagenetic alteration of DOM. TDAA concentrations and degradation indices increased in the mesopelagic zone during mixing, indicating the export of a relatively less diagenetically altered (i.e., more labile) DOM. During periods of deep mixing, a unique subset of dissolved metabolites, such as amino acids, vitamins, and benzoic acids, was produced or lost. DOM export and compositional change were accompanied by mesopelagic bacterial growth and response of specific bacterial lineages in the SAR11, SAR202, and SAR86 clades, Acidimicrobiales, and Flavobacteria, during and shortly following deep mixing. Complementary DOM biogeochemistry and microbial measurements revealed seasonal changes in DOM composition and diagenetic state, highlighting microbial alteration of the quantity and quality of DOM in the ocean.
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ArticleDissolved organic matter in the ocean : a controversy stimulates new insights(Oceanography Society, 2009-12) Hansell, Dennis A. ; Carlson, Craig A. ; Repeta, Daniel J. ; Schlitzer, ReinerContaining as much carbon as the atmosphere, marine dissolved organic matter is one of Earth’s major carbon reservoirs. With invigoration of scientific inquiries into the global carbon cycle, our ignorance of its role in ocean biogeochemistry became untenable. Rapid mobilization of relevant research two decades ago required the community to overcome early false leads, but subsequent progress in examining the global dynamics of this material has been steady. Continuous improvements in analytical skill coupled with global ocean hydrographic survey opportunities resulted in the generation of thousands of measurements throughout the major ocean basins. Here, observations and model results provide new insights into the large-scale variability of dissolved organic carbon, its contribution to the biological pump, and its deep ocean sinks.
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ArticleAn operational overview of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) Northeast Pacific field deployment(University of California Press, 2021-07-07) Siegel, David A. ; Cetinić, Ivona ; Graff, Jason R. ; Lee, Craig M. ; Nelson, Norman B. ; Perry, Mary J. ; Soto Ramos, Inia ; Steinberg, Deborah K. ; Buesseler, Ken O. ; Hamme, Roberta C. ; Fassbender, Andrea ; Nicholson, David P. ; Omand, Melissa M. ; Robert, Marie ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Amaral, Vinicius ; Behrenfeld, Michael J. ; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia R. ; Bisson, Kelsey ; Boss, Emmanuel S. ; Boyd, Philip ; Brzezinski, Mark A. ; Buck, Kristen N. ; Burd, Adrian B. ; Burns, Shannon ; Caprara, Salvatore ; Carlson, Craig A. ; Cassar, Nicolas ; Close, Hilary G. ; D'Asaro, Eric A. ; Durkin, Colleen A. ; Erickson, Zachary K. ; Estapa, Margaret L. ; Fields, Erik ; Fox, James ; Freeman, Scott ; Gifford, Scott M. ; Gong, Weida ; Gray, Deric ; Guidi, Lionel ; Haëntjens, Nils ; Halsey, Kim ; Huot, Yannick ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Jenkins, Bethany D. ; Karp-Boss, Lee ; Kramer, Sasha J. ; Lam, Phoebe J. ; Lee, Jong-Mi ; Maas, Amy E. ; Marchal, Olivier ; Marchetti, Adrian ; McDonnell, Andrew M. P. ; McNair, Heather ; Menden-Deuer, Susanne ; Morison, Francoise ; Niebergall, Alexandria K. ; Passow, Uta ; Popp, Brian N. ; Potvin, Geneviève ; Resplandy, Laure ; Roca-Martí, Montserrat ; Roesler, Collin S. ; Rynearson, Tatiana A. ; Traylor, Shawnee ; Santoro, Alyson E. ; Seraphin, Kanesa ; Sosik, Heidi M. ; Stamieszkin, Karen ; Stephens, Brandon M. ; Tang, Weiyi ; Van Mooy, Benjamin ; Xiong, Yuanheng ; Zhang, XiaodongThe goal of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) field campaign is to develop a predictive understanding of the export, fate, and carbon cycle impacts of global ocean net primary production. To accomplish this goal, observations of export flux pathways, plankton community composition, food web processes, and optical, physical, and biogeochemical (BGC) properties are needed over a range of ecosystem states. Here we introduce the first EXPORTS field deployment to Ocean Station Papa in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during summer of 2018, providing context for other papers in this special collection. The experiment was conducted with two ships: a Process Ship, focused on ecological rates, BGC fluxes, temporal changes in food web, and BGC and optical properties, that followed an instrumented Lagrangian float; and a Survey Ship that sampled BGC and optical properties in spatial patterns around the Process Ship. An array of autonomous underwater assets provided measurements over a range of spatial and temporal scales, and partnering programs and remote sensing observations provided additional observational context. The oceanographic setting was typical of late-summer conditions at Ocean Station Papa: a shallow mixed layer, strong vertical and weak horizontal gradients in hydrographic properties, sluggish sub-inertial currents, elevated macronutrient concentrations and low phytoplankton abundances. Although nutrient concentrations were consistent with previous observations, mixed layer chlorophyll was lower than typically observed, resulting in a deeper euphotic zone. Analyses of surface layer temperature and salinity found three distinct surface water types, allowing for diagnosis of whether observed changes were spatial or temporal. The 2018 EXPORTS field deployment is among the most comprehensive biological pump studies ever conducted. A second deployment to the North Atlantic Ocean occurred in spring 2021, which will be followed by focused work on data synthesis and modeling using the entire EXPORTS data set.