Description: Controlled manipulation of environmental conditions within large enclosures in the ocean, so-called pelagic mesocosms, has become a standard method to explore potential responses of marine plankton communities to anthropogenic change. Among the challenges of interpreting mesocosm data is the often uncertain role of vertical mixing, which usually is not observed directly. To account for mixing nonetheless, two pragmatic assumptions are common: either that the water column is homogeneously mixed or that it is divided into two water bodies with a horizontal barrier inhibiting turbulent exchange. In this study, we present a model-based reanalysis of vertical turbulent diffusion in the mesocosm experiments PeECE III and KOSMOS 2013. Our diffusivity estimates indicate intermittent mixing events along with stagnating periods and yield simulated temperature and salinity profiles that are consistent with the observations. Here, we provide the respective diffusivities as a comprehensive data product in the Network Common Data Format (NetCDF). This data product will help to guide forthcoming model studies that aim at deepening our understanding of biogeochemical processes in the PeECE III and KOSMOS 2013 mesocosms, such as the CO2-related changes in marine carbon export. In addition, we make our model code available, providing an adjustable tool to simulate vertical mixing in any other pelagic mesocosm. The data product and the model code are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.905311 (Mathesius et al., 2019).

Description: We present a new near-global coupled biogeochemical ocean-circulation model configuration. The configuration features a horizontal discretization with a grid spacing of less than 11 km in the Southern Ocean and gradually coarsens in meridional direction to more than 200 km at 64∘ N, where the model is bounded by a solid wall. The underlying code framework is the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)'s Modular Ocean Model coupled to the Biogeochemistry with Light, Iron, Nutrients and Gases (BLING) ecosystem model of Galbraith et al. (2010). The configuration is unique in that it features both a relatively equilibrated oceanic carbon inventory and an eddying ocean circulation based on a realistic model geometry/bathymetry – a combination that has been precluded by prohibitive computational cost in the past. Results from a simulation with climatological forcing and a sensitivity experiment with increasing winds suggest that the configuration is sufficiently equilibrated to explore Southern Ocean carbon uptake dynamics on decadal timescales. The configuration is dubbed MOMSO, a Modular Ocean Model Southern Ocean configuration.

Description: An increasing number of dead zoning (hypoxia) has been reported as a consequence of declining levels of dissolved oxygen in coastal oceans all over the globe. Despite substantial efforts a quantitative description of hypoxia up to a level enabling reliable predictions has not been achieved yet for most regions of societal interest. This does also apply to Eckernförde Bight (EB) situated in the Baltic Sea, Germany. The aim of this study is to dissect underlying mechanisms of hypoxia in EB, to identify key sources of uncertainties, and to explore the potential of existing monitoring programs to predict hypoxia by developing and documenting a workflow that may be applicable to other regions facing similar challenges. Our main tool is an ultra-high spatially resolved general ocean circulation model based on a code framework of proven versatility in that it has been applied to various regional and even global simulations in the past. Our model configuration features a spacial horizontal resolution of 100 m (unprecedented in the underlying framework which is used in both global and regional applications) and includes an elementary representation of the biogeochemical dynamics of dissolved oxygen. In addition, we integrate artificial “clocks” that measure the residence time of the water in EB along with timescales of (surface) ventilation. Our approach relies on an ensemble of hindcast model simulations, covering the period from 2000 to 2018, designed to cover a range of poorly known model parameters for vertical background mixing (diffusivity) and local oxygen consumption within EB. Feed-forward artificial neural networks are used to identify predictors of hypoxia deep in EB based on data at a monitoring site at the entrance of EB. Our results consistently show that the dynamics of low (hypoxic) oxygen concentrations in bottom waters deep inside EB is, to first order, determined by the following antagonistic processes: (1) the inflow of low-oxygenated water from the Kiel Bight (KB) – especially from July to October – and (2) the local ventilation of bottom waters by local (within EB) subduction and vertical mixing. Biogeochemical processes that consume oxygen locally are apparently of minor importance for the development of hypoxic events. Reverse reasoning suggests that subduction and mixing processes in EB contribute, under certain environmental conditions, to the ventilation of the KB by exporting recently ventilated waters enriched in oxygen. A detailed analysis of the 2017 fish-kill incident highlights the interplay between westerly winds importing hypoxia from KB and ventilating easterly winds which subduct oxygenated water.

Description: The ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is endangered by eutrophication. This has triggered expensive international management efforts. Some of these efforts are impeded by natural processes such as nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria blooms that add bioavailable nitrogen to the already over-fertilized system and thereby enhance primary production, export of organic matter to depth, and associated oxygen consumption. Controls of cyanobacteria blooms are not comprehensively understood, and this adds to the uncertainty of model-based projections into the warming future of the Baltic Sea. Here we review our current understanding of cyanobacteria bloom dynamics. We summarize published field studies and laboratory experiments and dissect the basic principles ingrained in state-of-the-art coupled ocean–circulation biogeochemical models.