Net and Gross Production in the Equatorial Pacific Based on the Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Dissolved O2

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT OCE-0082324 The principal investigator will conduct a survey of the concentration of oxygen and the amounts of three oxygen isotopes (18O, 17O, 16O) in the upper water column of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean to constrain the rates of net and gross production in the region.. The triple isotopic data will be used to estimate gross primary production., and the 18O measurements will can be used to constrain estimates of lateral diffusive mixing along surfaces of equal seawater density. The project is expected provide a link between instantaneous the rates of production made in typical shipboard ocean "process" studies and basin-scale rates inferred from observations chlorophyll, nutrients, hydrography and other tracers assessed by satellite and hydrography. The survey is expected to test and improve Generalized Circulation Models and biogeochemical models of the equatorial Pacific that are important not only for understanding primary production and oxygen cycling in this vast oceanic region but also for gaining an indirect assessment of the regional dynamics of carbon cycling.