New Estimates of Southern Ocean Annual Net Community Production Revealed by BGC‐Argo Floats
Jiaoyang Su, Christina Schallenberg, Tyler Rohr, Peter G. Strutton, Helen E. Phillips
Abstract
Abstract Using an expanding Southern Ocean fleet of biogeochemical Argo (BGC‐Argo) floats, we developed a novel approach to estimate annual net community production (ANCP) by integrating subsurface oxygen drawdown from all available BGC‐Argo oxygen profiles. Our results suggest that, on average, 14% of remineralization occurs between 500 and 1,000 m and 15% occurs between the euphotic depth and 100 m. Using the improved methodology, we estimated total basin‐integrated ANCP in the Southern Ocean to be 3.89 GT C year −1 suggesting a more important role for the Southern Ocean in regulating oceanic carbon storage, atmospheric CO 2 exchange and climate than previously assumed.