Picophytoplankton photoacclimation and mixing in the surface oceans
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5615Location
Sargasso SeaDOI
10.1575/1912/5615Keyword
Phytoplankton; Photosynthesis; Primary productivity; Acclimatization; Oceanic mixing; Oceanus (Ship : 1975-) Cruise OC214; Endeavor (Ship: 1976-) Cruise EN232Abstract
Fluctuations in light intensity due to vertical mixing in the open ocean surface
layer will affect phytoplankton physiology. Conversely, indicators of phytoplankton
photoacclimation will be diagnostic of mixing processes if the appropriate kinetics are
known. A combination of laboratory and field experimental work, field observations,
and theoretical models were used to quantify the relationship between vertical mixing
and photoacclimation in determining the time and space evolution of single cell optical
properties for the photosynthetic picoplankton, Prochlorococcus spp. Diel time-series
observations from the Sargasso Sea reveal patterns in single-cell fluorescence
distributions within Prochlorococcus spp. populations which appear to correspond to
decreasing mixing rates and photoacclimation during the day, and increased mixing at
night. Reciprocal light shift experiments were used to quantify the photoacclimation
kinetics for Prochlorococcus spp. fluorescence.
A laboratory continuous culture system was developed which could simulate
the effects of mixing across a light gradient at the level of the individual cell. This
system was operated at four different simulated diffusivities. Prochlorococcus
marinus strain Med4 fluorescence distributions show distinct patterns in the mean and
higher moments which are consistent with a simple quasi-steady turbulent diffusionphotoacclimation
model. In both, daytime photoacclimation drove the development of
a gradient in mean fluorescence, a decrease in variance overall, and skewing of
distributions away from the boundaries. These results suggest that picophytoplankton
single-cell fluorescence distributions could prove to be a useful diagnostic indicator of
the mixing environment.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 1995
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Suggested Citation
Thesis: Dusenberry, Jeffrey A., "Picophytoplankton photoacclimation and mixing in the surface oceans", 1995-02, DOI:10.1575/1912/5615, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5615Related items
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