Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (1): 21-30.doi: 10.11978/2020009CSTR: 32234.14.2020009

• Marine Meteorology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Temporal and spatial patterns of dust deposition in the North Pacific Ocean and its potential impact on ecosystem in the subarctic ocean

CHEN Huanhuan1,2(), WANG Yuntao2(), QI Yiquan1, CHAI Fei2   

  1. 1. College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China
  • Received:2020-01-15 Revised:2020-03-07 Online:2021-01-10 Published:2020-04-01
  • Contact: WANG Yuntao E-mail:chenhh@hhu.edu.cn;yuntao.wang@sio.org.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(41730536)

Abstract:

As one of the three high nutrient and low chlorophyll (HNLC) regions in the global oceans, the growth of phytoplankton in the subarctic North Pacific Ocean is restricted by the trace element iron, which plays an important role in nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis and metabolism of phytoplankton. For an open ocean, atmospheric deposition (atmospheric pollutants produced by human activities as well as dust) is an important source of iron, which can impact biological activities in the upper layer of the ocean. In this study, we use the daily-averaged atmospheric deposition model outputs from the Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) for the period between December 1997 and November 2017, to quantify the flux of atmospheric deposition in the North Pacific Ocean and the corresponding spatial and temporal variability. The results show that the annual flux of atmospheric deposition into the North Pacific Ocean is 26.81 Tg·a-1, with clear seasonal variation: high flux of atmospheric deposition flux happens during spring and peaks in May, and low values occur in winter. The spatial distribution of atmospheric deposition shows a prominent increasing from the Northwest Pacific Ocean to Northeast Pacific Ocean. In this study, we analysis the response of Particulate Organic Carbon (POC; Aug. 2010) and chlorophyll (Apr. 2001, Apr. 2008 and Aug. 2010) at station K2 (47°N, 160°E) in the Northwest Pacific Ocean to strong dust events, which are defined as the times when high flux of atmospheric decomposition happens. The results show that the POC flux and chlorophyll increase obviously after each dust event because the iron from atmospheric deposition can regulate the growth of phytoplankton and biological pump Thus, the dust events can stimulate the responses of marine ecosystem by promoting ocean primary production.

Key words: North Pacific Ocean, atmospheric deposition, dust, particulate organic carbon, chlorophyll

CLC Number: 

  • P732.17