Physical mechanisms for biological carbon uptake during the onset of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (BOUSSOLE site)

Merlivat, Liliane; Hemming, Michael; Boutin, Jacqueline; Antoine, David; Vellucci, Vincenzo; Golbol, Melek; Lee, Gareth A.; Beaumont, Laurence

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3911-2022

Articles | Volume 19, issue 16

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3911-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3911-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 16

Research article

|

30 Aug 2022

Research article |

| 30 Aug 2022

Physical mechanisms for biological carbon uptake during the onset of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (BOUSSOLE site)

Liliane Merlivat, Michael Hemming, Jacqueline Boutin, David Antoine, Vincenzo Vellucci, Melek Golbol, Gareth A. Lee, and Laurence Beaumont

Data sets

Mediterranean Sea surface CO2 partial pressure and temperature data Liliane Merlivat and Jacqueline Boutin https://doi.org/10.17882/56709

Deployment of UEA Seaglider sg537 ('Fin') near the Boussole time series site (Mediterranean Sea) with pH/p(CO2) ISFET sensor testing, March - April 2016 J. Kaiser and M. P. Hemming https://doi.org/10.5285/e686816f-8bdd-4782-e053-6c86abc07adc

Short summary

We use in situ high-temporal-resolution measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon and atmospheric parameters at the air–sea interface to analyse phytoplankton bloom initiation identified as the net rate of biological carbon uptake in the Mediterranean Sea. The shift from wind-driven to buoyancy-driven mixing creates conditions for blooms to begin. Active mixing at the air–sea interface leads to the onset of the surface phytoplankton bloom due to the relaxation of wind speed following storms.