Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2289-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2289-2020
Research article
 | 
22 Apr 2020
Research article |  | 22 Apr 2020

Spatial variations in silicate-to-nitrate ratios in Southern Ocean surface waters are controlled in the short term by physics rather than biology

Pieter Demuynck, Toby Tyrrell, Alberto Naveira Garabato, Mark Christopher Moore, and Adrian Peter Martin

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Cited articles

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Short summary
The availability of macronutrients N and Si is of key importance to sustain life in the Southern Ocean. N and Si are available in abundance at the southern boundary of the Southern Ocean due to constant supply from the deep ocean. In the more northern regions of the Southern Ocean, a decline in macronutrient concentration is noticed, especially strong for Si rather than N. This paper uses a simplified biogeochemical model to investigate processes responsible for this decline in concentration.
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