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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2020-06-18
    Description: High primary productivity in the equatorial Atlantic and Pacific oceans is one of the key features of tropical ocean biogeochemistry and fuels a substantial flux of particulate matter towards the abyssal ocean. How biological processes and equatorial current dynamics shape the particle size distribution and flux, however, is poorly understood. Here we use high-resolution size-resolved particle imaging and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler data to assess these influences in equatorial oceans. We find an increase in particle abundance and flux at depths of 300 to 600 m at the Atlantic and Pacific equator, a depth range to which zooplankton and nekton migrate vertically in a daily cycle. We attribute this particle maximum to faecal pellet production by these organisms. At depths of 1,000 to 4,000 m, we find that the particulate organic carbon flux is up to three times greater in the equatorial belt (1° S–1° N) than in off-equatorial regions. At 3,000 m, the flux is dominated by small particles less than 0.53 mm in diameter. The dominance of small particles seems to be caused by enhanced active and passive particle export in this region, as well as by the focusing of particles by deep eastward jets found at 2° N and 2° S. We thus suggest that zooplankton movements and ocean currents modulate the transfer of particulate carbon from the surface to the deep ocean.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2023-02-08
    Description: Ecosystem connectivity is an essential consideration for marine spatial planning of competing interests in the deep sea. Immobile, adult communities are connected through freely floating larvae, depending on new recruits for their health and to adapt to external pressures. We hypothesize that the vertical swimming ability of deep-sea larvae, before they permanently settle at the bottom, is one way larvae can control dispersal. We test this hypothesis with more than 3x108 simulated particles with a range of active swimming behaviours embedded within the currents of a high-resolution ocean model. Despite much stronger horizontal ocean currents, vertical swimming of simulated larvae can have an order of magnitude impact on dispersal. These strong relationships between larval dispersal, pathways, and active swimming demonstrate that lack of data on larval behaviour traits is a serious impediment to modelling deep-sea ecosystem connectivity; this uncertainty greatly limits our ability to develop ecologically coherent marine protected area networks.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Agulhas leakage, the transport of warm and salty waters from the Indian Ocean into the South Atlantic, has been suggested to increase under anthropogenic climate change, due to strengthening Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. The resulting enhanced salt transport into the South Atlantic may counteract the projected weakening of the Atlantic overturning circulation through warming and ice melting. Here we combine existing and new observation- and model-based Agulhas leakage estimates to robustly quantify its decadal evolution since the 1960s. We find that Agulhas leakage very likely increased between the mid-1960s and mid-1980s, in agreement with strengthening winds. Our models further suggest that increased leakage was related to enhanced transport outside eddies and coincided with strengthened Atlantic overturning circulation. Yet, it appears unlikely that Agulhas leakage substantially increased since the 1990s, despite continuously strengthening winds. Our results stress the need to better understand decadal leakage variability to detect and predict anthropogenic trends.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: In highly fragmented and relatively stable cold-seep ecosystems, species are expected to exhibit high migration rates and long-distance dispersal of long-lived pelagic larvae to maintain genetic integrity over their range. Accordingly, several species inhabiting cold seeps are widely distributed across the whole Atlantic Ocean, with low genetic divergence between metapopulations on both sides of the Atlantic Equatorial Belt (AEB, i.e. Barbados and African/European margins). Two hypotheses may explain such patterns: (i) the occurrence of present-day gene flow or (ii) incomplete lineage sorting due to large population sizes and low mutation rates. Here, we evaluated the first hypothesis using the cold seep mussels Gigantidas childressi, G. mauritanicus, Bathymodiolus heckerae and B. boomerang. We combined COI barcoding of 763 individuals with VIKING20X larval dispersal modelling at a large spatial scale not previously investigated. Population genetics supported the parallel evolution of Gigantidas and Bathymodiolus genera in the Atlantic Ocean and the occurrence of a 1-3 Million-year-old vicariance effect that isolated populations across the Caribbean Sea. Both population genetics and larval dispersal modelling suggested that contemporary gene flow and larval exchanges are possible across the AEB and the Caribbean Sea, although probably rare. When occurring, larval flow was eastward (AEB - only for B. boomerang) or northward (Caribbean Sea - only for G. mauritanicus). Caution is nevertheless required since we focused on only one mitochondrial gene, which may underestimate gene flow if a genetic barrier exists. Non-negligible genetic differentiation occurred between Barbados and African populations, so we could not discount the incomplete lineage sorting hypothesis. Larval dispersal modelling simulations supported the genetic findings along the American coast with high amounts of larval flow between the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and the US Atlantic Margin, although the Blake Ridge population of B. heckerae appeared genetically differentiated. Overall, our results suggest that additional studies using nuclear genetic markers and population genomics approaches are needed to clarify the evolutionary history of the Atlantic bathymodioline mussels and to distinguish between ongoing and past processes.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Landscape maps based on multivariate cluster analyses provide an objective and comprehensive view on the (marine) environment. They can hence support decision making regarding sustainable ocean resource handling and protection schemes. Across a large number of scales, input parameters and classification methods, numerous studies categorize the ocean into seascapes, hydro-morphological provinces or clusters. Many of them are regional, however, while only a few are on a basin scale. This study presents an automated cluster analysis of the entire Atlantic seafloor environment, based on eight global datasets and their derivatives: Bathymetry, slope, terrain ruggedness index, topographic position index, sediment thickness, POC flux, salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, current velocity, and phytoplankton abundance in surface waters along with seasonal variabilities. As a result, we obtained nine seabed areas (SBAs) that portray the Atlantic seafloor. Some SBAs have a clear geological and geomorphological nature, while others are defined by a mixture of terrain and water body characteristics. The majority of the SBAs, especially those covering the deep ocean areas, are coherent and show little seasonal and hydrographic variation, whereas other, nearshore SBAs, are smaller sized and dominated by high seasonal changes. To demonstrate the potential use of the marine landscape map for marine spatial planning purposes, we mapped out local SBA diversity using the patch richness index developed in landscape ecology. It identifies areas of high landscape diversity, and is a practical way of defining potential areas of interest, e.g. for designation as protected areas, or for further research. Clustering probabilities are highest (100%) in the center of SBA patches and decrease towards the edges (〈 98%). On the SBA point cloud which was reduced for probabilities 〈98%, we ran a diversity analysis to identify and highlight regions that have a high number of different SBAs per area, indicating the use of such analyses to automatically find potentially delicate areas. We found that some of the highlights are already within existing EBSAs, but the majority is yet unexplored.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Earth System Sciences have been generating increasingly larger amounts of heterogeneous data in recent years. We identify the need to combine Earth System Sciences with Data Sciences, and give our perspective on how this could be accomplished within the sub-field of Marine Sciences. Marine data hold abundant information and insights that Data Science techniques can reveal. There is high demand and potential to combine skills and knowledge from Marine and Data Sciences to best take advantage of the vast amount of marine data. This can be accomplished by establishing Marine Data Science as a new research discipline. Marine Data Science is an interface science that applies Data Science tools to extract information, knowledge, and insights from the exponentially increasing body of marine data. Marine Data Scientists need to be trained Data Scientists with a broad basic understanding of Marine Sciences and expertise in knowledge transfer. Marine Data Science doctoral researchers need targeted training for these specific skills, a crucial component of which is co-supervision from both parental sciences. They also might face challenges of scientific recognition and lack of an established academic career path. In this paper, we, Marine and Data Scientists at different stages of their academic career, present perspectives to define Marine Data Science as a distinct discipline. We draw on experiences of a Doctoral Research School, MarDATA, dedicated to training a cohort of early career Marine Data Scientists. We characterize the methods of Marine Data Science as a toolbox including skills from their two parental sciences. All of these aim to analyze and interpret marine data, which build the foundation of Marine Data Science.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the climate through its transport of heat in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decadal changes in the AMOC, whether through internal variability or anthropogenically forced weakening, therefore have wide-ranging impacts. In this Review, we synthesize the understanding of contemporary decadal variability in the AMOC, bringing together evidence from observations, ocean reanalyses, forced models and AMOC proxies. Since 1980, there is evidence for periods of strengthening and weakening, although the magnitudes of change (5–25%) are uncertain. In the subpolar North Atlantic, the AMOC strengthened until the mid-1990s and then weakened until the early 2010s, with some evidence of a strengthening thereafter; these changes are probably linked to buoyancy forcing related to the North Atlantic Oscillation. In the subtropics, there is some evidence of the AMOC strengthening from 2001 to 2005 and strong evidence of a weakening from 2005 to 2014. Such large interannual and decadal variability complicates the detection of ongoing long-term trends, but does not preclude a weakening associated with anthropogenic warming. Research priorities include developing robust and sustainable solutions for the long-term monitoring of the AMOC, observation–modelling collaborations to improve the representation of processes in the North Atlantic and better ways to distinguish anthropogenic weakening from internal variability.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Marine Heatwaves (MHWs) are ocean extreme events, characterized by anomalously high temperatures, which can have significant ecological impacts. The Northeast U.S. continental shelf is of great economical importance as it is home to a highly productive ecosystem. Local warming rates exceed the global average and the region experienced multiple MHWs in the last decade with severe consequences for regional fisheries. Due to the lack of subsurface observations, the depth-extent of MHWs is not well-known, which hampers the assessment of impacts on pelagic and benthic ecosystems. This study utilizes a global ocean circulation model with a high-resolution (1/20°) nest in the Atlantic to investigate the depth structure of MHWs and associated drivers on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf. It is shown that MHWs exhibit varying spatial extents, with some only occurring at depth. The highest intensities are found around 100 m depth with temperatures exceeding the climatological mean by up to 7°C, while surface intensities are typically smaller (around 3°C). Distinct vertical structures are associated with different spatial MHW patterns and drivers. Investigation of the co-variability of temperature and salinity reveals that over 80% of MHWs at depth (〉50 m) coincide with extreme salinity anomalies. Two case studies provide insight into opposing MHW patterns at the surface and at depth, being forced by anomalous air-sea heat fluxes and Gulf Stream warm core ring interaction, respectively. The results highlight the importance of local ocean dynamics and the need to realistically represent them in climate models.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Agulhas leakage, the warm and salty inflow of Indian Ocean water into the Atlantic Ocean, is of importance for the climate-relevant Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. South of Africa, the eastward turning Agulhas Current sheds Agulhas rings, cyclones and filaments of order 100 km that carry the Indian Ocean water into the Cape Basin and further into the Atlantic. Here, we show that the resolution of submesoscale flows of order 10 km in an ocean model leads to 40 % more Agulhas leakage and more realistic Cape Basin water-masses compared to a parallel non-submesoscale resolving simulation. Moreover, we show that submesoscale flows strengthen shear-edge eddies and in consequence lee cyclones at the northern edge of the Agulhas Current, as well as the leakage pathway in the region of the filaments that takes place outside of mesoscale eddies. This indicates that the increase in leakage can be attributed to stronger Agulhas filaments, when submesoscale flows are resolved.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2024-02-07
    Description: Changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) represent a crucial component of Northern Hemisphere climate variability. In modelling studies decadal overturning variability has been attributed to the intensity of deep winter convection in the Labrador Sea. This linkage is challenged by transport observations at sections across the subpolar gyre. Here we report simulations with an eddy-rich ocean model which captures the observed concentration of downwelling in the northeastern Atlantic and the negligible impact of interannual variations in Labrador Sea convection during the last decade. However, the exceptionally cold winters in the Labrador Sea during the first half of the 1990s induced a positive AMOC anomaly of more than 20%, mainly by augmenting the downwelling in the northeastern North Atlantic. The remote effect of excessive Labrador Sea buoyancy forcing is related to rapid spreading of mid-depth density anomalies into the Irminger Sea and their entrainment into the deep boundary current off Greenland.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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