Internal-wave-induced and double-diffusive nutrient fluxes to the nutrient-consuming surface layer in the oligotrophic subtropical North Atlantic

Abstract

In the literature, an inconsistency exists between estimates of biotically-effected carbon export inferred from large-scale geochemical studies (Jenkins 1982; 47 gC m⁻² a⁻¹) and local measurements of turbulent nutrient supply (Lewis et al. 1986; 4 gC m⁻² a⁻¹) in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic. Nutrient supply to the upper ocean by turbulent mixing is reexamined using local standard oceanographic measurements and high-resolution vertical profiles of nutrients averaged over a large region directly comparable to that investigated by Jenkins (1982).