Plankton patchiness investigated using simultaneous nitrate and chlorophyll observations

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Abstract
The complex patterns observed in marine phytoplankton distributions arise from the interplay of biological and physical processes, but the nature of the balance remains uncertain centuries after the first observations. Previous observations have shown a consistent trend of decreasing variability with decreasing length scale. Influenced by similar scaling found for the properties of the water that the phytoplankton inhabit, “universal” theories have been proposed that simultaneously explain the variability seen from meters to hundreds of kilometers. However, data on the distribution of phytoplankton alone have proved insufficient to differentiate between the many causal mechanisms that have been suggested. Here we present novel observations from a cruise in the North Atlantic in which fluorescence (proxy for phytoplankton), nitrate, and temperature were measured simultaneously at scales from 10 m to 100 km for the first time in the open ocean. These show a change in spectra between the small scale (10–100 m) and the mesoscale (10–100 km) which is different for the three tracers. We discuss these observations in relation to the current theories for phytoplankton patchiness.
Funding Information
  • the Natural Environment Research Council through the Oceans 2025 research programme
  • NERC National Capability Funding

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