The influence of environmental variability on the biogeography of coccolithophores and diatoms in the Great Calcite Belt

Smith, Helen E. K.; Poulton, Alex J.; Garley, Rebecca; Hopkins, Jason; Lubelczyk, Laura C.; Drapeau, Dave T.; Rauschenberg, Sara; Twining, Ben S.; Bates, Nicholas R.; Balch, William M.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4905-2017

Articles | Volume 14, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4905-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4905-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 21

Research article

|

07 Nov 2017

Research article |

| 07 Nov 2017

The influence of environmental variability on the biogeography of coccolithophores and diatoms in the Great Calcite Belt

Helen E. K. Smith, Alex J. Poulton, Rebecca Garley, Jason Hopkins, Laura C. Lubelczyk, Dave T. Drapeau, Sara Rauschenberg, Ben S. Twining, Nicholas R. Bates, and William M. Balch

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4905-2017-supplement

Data sets

Coccolithophore and diatom cell abundance from the upper mixed later of the Great Calcite Belt, January–February 2011 in the South Atlantic Ocean and February–March 2012 in the South Indian Ocean. H. E. K. Smith, A. J. Poulton, J. Hopkins, and W. M. Balch https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.879790

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Short summary

The Great Calcite Belt (GCB), a region of high calcite concentration from coccolithophores, covers 60 % of the Southern Ocean area. We examined the influence of temperature, macronutrients, and carbonate chemistry on the distribution of mineralizing phytoplankton in the GCB. Coccolithophores occupy a niche in the Southern Ocean after the diatom spring bloom depletes silicic acid. No single environmental variable holds a dominant influence over phytoplankton biogeography in summer GCB conditions.