Description: In July 2007, phosphorus input by an upwelling event along the east coast of Gotland Island and the response of filamentous cyanobacteria were studied to determine whether introduced phosphorus can intensify cyanobacterial bloom formation in the eastern Gotland Basin. Surface temperature, nutrient concentrations, phytoplankton biomass and its stoichiometry, as well as phosphate uptake rates were determined in two transects between the coasts of Gotland and Latvia and in a short grid offshore of Gotland. In the upwelling area, surface temperatures of 11–12 °C and average dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentrations of 0.26 μM were measured. Outside the upwelling, surface temperatures were higher (15.5–16.6 °C) and DIP supplies in the upper 10 m layer were exhausted. Nitrite and nitrate concentrations (0.01–0.22 μM) were very low within and outside the upwelling region. Abundances of filamentous cyanobacteria were highly reduced in the upwelling area, accounting for only 1.4–6.0% of the total phytoplankton biomass, in contrast to 18–20% outside the upwelling. The C:P ratio of filamentous cyanobacteria varied between 32.8 and 310 in the upwelling region, most likely due to the introduction of phosphorus-depleted organisms into the upwelling water. These organisms accumulate DIP in upwelling water and have lower C:P ratios as long as they remain in DIP-rich water. Thus, diazotrophic cyanobacteria benefit from phosphorus input directly in the upwelling region. Outside the upwelling region, the C:P ratios of filamentous cyanobacteria varied widely, between 240 and 463, whereas those of particulate material in the water ranged only between 96 and 224. To reduce their C:P ratio from 300 to 35, cyanobacteria in the upwelling region had to take up 0.05 mmol m−3 DIP, which is about 20% of the available DIP. Thus, a larger biomass of filamentous cyanobacteria may be able to benefit from a given DIP input. As determined from the DIP uptake rates measured in upwelling cells, the time needed to reduce the C:P ratio from 300 to 35 was too long to explain the huge bloom formations that typically occur in summer. However, phosphorus uptake rates increased significantly with increasing C:P ratios, allowing phosphorus accumulation within 4–5 days, a span of time suitable for bloom formation in July and August.

Description: Sedimentary molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) enrichments have been widely used as a proxy for redox conditions in oxygen-depleted marine paleo-environments. However, in a dynamic upwelling system the seasonal fluctuations from oxic to completely anoxic-sulfidic bottom waters and lateral sediment transport can modify the primary Mo and U signal of the sediment, which in turn may impact paleo-redox interpretations. In this study we present pore water and solid phase data collected at two cross shelf transects during the ‘more oxygenated’ austral winter and ‘anoxic’ austral summer to study the influence of spatially and seasonally contrasting redox conditions on the formation of authigenic Mo and U enrichments in organic carbon (TOC) rich mud belt sediments on the Namibian shelf. A mass balance was established for each element based on diffusive fluxes and element mass accumulation rates to evaluate the respective mechanisms of trace metal delivery, accumulation and recycling. Mo is delivered to the sediment in its dissolved form via diffusion across the sediment–water interface, especially during austral summer when bottom waters are anoxic and surface sediments are highly sulfidic. In the center of the inner shelf mud belt, the benthic Mo fluxes of up to 37 nmol cm−2 yr−1 into sulfidic surface sediments are the highest ever reported for reducing sulfidic systems and agree with the rate of Mo accumulation in the solid phase. Concurrently, high sedimentation rates and low terrigenous input limit solid phase Mo accumulation on the Namibian shelf. In ancient marine sediments, this mode of Mo cycling can be identified by low Mo/TOC ratios of ∼2 similar to those found in sediments deposited below the perennial oxygen minimum zone on the Peruvian shelf and to those found in deposits of the Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. Diffusive U fluxes into the sediment are generally too low to account for the sedimentary enrichment leading to the conclusion that U is delivered mainly in particulate form. In areas with anoxic bottom water, shallow dissolved U maxima directly below the sediment water interface and rather low sedimentary U content indicate that particulate U is recycled and largely released back into the bottom water. At sites where bottom water oxygen concentrations vary from anoxic to completely oxic on seasonal timescales, the depth at which Mo and U are removed from pore waters moves vertically within the sediment column thus defining a layer between the sediment surface and ∼20 cm depth, in which Mo and U accumulate in the solid phase. Our results emphasize the importance of short-term redox fluctuations in the bottom waters and underlying sediments, as well as lateral sediment transport for the authigenic enrichment of redox-sensitive trace metals in reducing shelf sediments. The relative enrichment patterns identified might be useful for the reconstruction of open marine anoxia in the geological past.

Description: Surface wind is taken as the primary driver of upwelling in the eastern boundary upwelling systems. The fluctuation of momentum flux associated with the variation in wind regulates the nutrient supply to the euphotic surface layer via changing the properties of oceanic mixed layer depth, the coastal and offshore upwelling, and horizontal advection. Here, the spatial and temporal variability of the surface wind field over the last seven decades across the Peruvian upwelling system is investigated. Strong fluctuations in seasonal to decadal timescales are found over the entire upwelling system. A semi-periodic wind fluctuation on an interannual timescale is found, which is closely related to the regional sea surface temperature and can be attributed to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, the wind anomaly patterns during positive and negative phases of ENSO are not opposite, which suggests an asymmetric response of local wind to ENSO cycles. In addition, a semi-regular fluctuation on the decadal timescale is evident in the wind field, which can be attributed to the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). Our results show that the sea surface temperature over the Humboldt Upwelling System is closely connected to local wind stress and the wind stress curl. The SST wind stress co-variability seems more pronounced in the coastal upwelling cells, in which equatorward winds are very likely accompanied by robust cooling over the coastal zones. Over the past seven decades, wind speed underwent a slightly positive trend. However, the spatial pattern of the trend features considerable heterogeneity with larger values near the coastal upwelling cells.

Description: The Humboldt Upwelling System (HUS) supports high levels of primary production and has the largest single-stock fishery worldwide. The high fish production is suggested to be related to high trophic transfer efficiency in the HUS. Mucous-mesh grazers (pelagic tunicates and gastropods) are mostly of low nutritious value and might reduce trophic transfer efficiency when they are locally abundant. Unfortunately, little is known about the spatial dynamics of mucous-mesh grazers from Peruvian waters, limiting our understanding of their potential ecological role(s). We provide a spatial assessment of mucous-mesh grazer abundance from the Peruvian shelf in austral summer 2018/2019 along six cross-shelf transects spanning from 8.5 to 16° S latitude. The community was dominated by appendicularians and doliolids. Salps occurred in high abundance but infrequently and pelagic gastropods were mostly restricted to the North. At low latitudes, the abundance of mucous-mesh grazers was higher than some key species of crustacean mesozooplankton. Transects in this region had stronger Ekman-transport, higher temperature, lower surface turbidity and a broader oxygenated upper water layer compared to higher-latitude transects. Small-scale lateral intrusions of upwelled water were potentially associated with high abundances of doliolids at specific stations. The high abundance and estimated ingestion rates of mucous-mesh grazers in the northern HUS suggest that a large flux of carbon from lower trophic levels is shunted to tunicates in recently upwelled water masses. The data provide important information on the ecology of mucous mesh grazers and stress the relevance to increase research effort on investigating their functioning in upwelling systems.