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Remineralization in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of Maine inferred from climatologies of dissolved oxygen and primary production

Raymond Gabriel Najjar, The Pennsylvania State University, najjar@meteo.psu.edu (Presenting)
John Siewert, The Pennsylvania State University, jsiewert79@gmail.com
John O'reilly, NOAA/NMFS Narragansett Lab, oreilly@narwhal.gso.uri.edu

The decomposition of organic matter (remineralization) is a central process in marine biogeochemical cycles but is extremely difficult to measure directly. Here we combine climatologies of dissolved oxygen and satellite-based primary production with a simple 1-D mass balance model to estimate the mean annual cycle of remineralization in the well-sampled waters of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) and the Gulf of Maine (GOM). The dissolved oxygen climatology is based on historical measurements archived at the National Oceanographic Data Center. Primary production is based on a version of the Vertically Generalized Productivity Model, which has been shown to agree very well with historical in situ measurements. Remineralization is estimated from the time rate of change of dissolved oxygen, accounting for mixing, air-sea exchange, and primary production. Results are presented averaged over subregions of the MAB and GOM.


NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Active Awards Represented by this Poster:

  • Award: in progress
    Start Date: 0000-00-00
     

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