New and Net Production and Total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Changes in Surface Ocean Waters

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An implicit assumption in recent marine production research is that new production can be quantitatively converted to net community production. Applications of the new-regenerated model and net-gross model are applied to critical questions such as how and to what extent ocean biology affects material flux from surface waters. This research is currently limited by a non-quantitative understanding of how the models relate to material flux or even how the models relate to each other. This research is a field investigation of the relationship between net and gross production (using both oxygen and Total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon changes) and new and regenerated production (using 15N). Both mass balance and tracer rate measurements will be made on the same time scale, using newly developed in situ samplers/incubators for simultaneous measurements. The study focuses on testing the implicit assumptions of balanced growth and balanced remineralization that relate surface nutrient cycles. The assumptions will be tested by comparing the results of our unique incubations with the theoretical relationships relating these cycles. This direct analysis for short time scale nutrient dynamics associated with plankton community metabolism will lead to improved field methods for measuring material throughput in planktonic systems.