Estimation of Air-Sea Exchange, Nutrient Transport and New Primary Production in the Subtropical Ocean Using Time Series Tracer Data

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The thrust of this work will be able to use available tracer data to set quantitative limits on a number of biogeochemically important processes in the subtropical ocean. The fundamental problem that will be attacked is the apparent mismatch between the more "conventional" estimates of primary production and the geochemical tracer estimates recently proposed (eg Jenkins, 1982; Jenkins and Goldman, 1985; Jenkins, 1988; Spitzer and Jenkins, 1989). On hand is an extended time series of tracer data and maps of the large scale distribution of many of these tracers that reuires interpretation. The PI plans to do the following: %%% 1. Using existing time series tracer data combined with upper ocean prognostic and inverse modelling, estimates of gas exchange rates, vertical mixing, nutrient transport and new primary production in oligotrophic waters will be made. %%% 2. Using knowledge of large scale tracer distributions the problems associated with lateral processes influencing the essentially one dimensional natue of the time series data will be addressed. %%% 3. A simple stochastic model will be employed to study the problems of timescale mismatch associated with comparison of conventional bottle-incubation techniques and the longer term integrating tracer measurements. %%% This work will result in a series of papers based on the above modelling and interpretive efforts which will serve to synthesize and extend the tracer based estimates of these important processes, and rationalize their comparison with other techniques.