Times Series Particle Flux Measurements in the Sargasso Sea

我们目前对当今海洋/气候相互作用的理解在很大程度上是基于作为长期研究工作的一部分收集的数据。长期研究对我们了解海洋如何运作的贡献是巨大而深远的。然而，这样的研究是极其罕见的——尤其是那些以生物地球化学为重点的研究。自1978年以来，在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的科学家们的指导下，海洋通量计划（OFP）连续测量了马尾藻海深处的颗粒通量。到目前为止，25年的OFP时间序列是同类中最长的，并且在关注深海方面也是独一无二的。OFP在“生物泵”中产生了一种独特的，尽管是“经过编辑的”，时间变化的记录。“生物泵”这个术语在这里宽泛地应用于由上层海洋生物/物理过程导致的物质从海洋表面转移到深海。OFP为深海的季节性以及深海通量与上层海洋过程之间的紧密耦合提供了第一个直接证据。它提供了明确的证据，表明下沉通量的生物再处理和悬浮物的清除强度，特别是在中上层水域。该记录记录了流入深海的物质通量的年际和较长的变化，以及中尺度物理变率和天气气象强迫之间相互作用所驱动的较短期波动。时间序列现在变得足够长，我们可以开始从多年的盆地尺度气候变化的角度来研究这种变化，这种变化会改变海洋的功能，比如北大西洋涛动。该项目将继续为这一独特而基本的海洋学时间序列提供资金。随着记录越来越长，科学界将能够更好地从气候和海洋功能之间相互作用的角度来看待观测到的波动。OFP、百慕大大西洋时间序列（BATS）和百慕大系系试验台（BTM）这三个在百慕大时间序列站点进行的协调和互补研究，以及新的海洋技术，现在提供了一个前所未有的机会，可以研究海洋物理、生物、化学和物质通量之间耦合相互作用的细节，以及这些相互作用如何反过来与大气和气候强迫联系起来。

ABSTRACTOCE-0325627Our current understanding of present-day ocean/climate interactions is based largely upon data collected as part of long-term research efforts. The contributions of long-term studies to our knowledge of how the ocean works are numerous and far-reaching. Yet, such studies are exceedingly rare- especially those with a biogeochemical focus.Since 1978, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), under the direction of scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has continuously measured particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea. The 25-year OFP time-series is, by far, the longest of its kind and unique in its focus on the deep ocean. OFP has produced a unique, albeit "edited", record of temporal variability in the "biological pump", a term loosely applied here to material transfer from the surface to the deep ocean which results from upper ocean biological/physical processes. The OFP provided the first direct evidence for seasonality in the deep ocean and the tight coupling between deep fluxes and upper ocean processes. It has provided clear evidence of the intensity of biological reprocessing of sinking flux and scavenging of suspended material, especially in mesopelagic waters. The record has documented interannual and longer variations in material fluxes to the deep ocean and shorter-term fluctuations driven by the interactions between mesoscale physical variability and synoptic meteorological forcing. The time-series is now becoming long enough that we can begin to study this variability in terms of multiyear basin-scale climatic variations, which alter ocean functioning, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation.This project will continue the funding for this unique and fundamental oceanographic time-series. As the record gets longer, the scientific community will better able to put into perspective the observed fluctuations in terms of the interplay between climate and ocean functioning. The concurrence of three coordinated and complementary research at the Bermuda time-series site -- the OFP, the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series (BATS) and the Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM) -- and new ocean technology now presents an unprecedented opportunity to study the details of the coupled interactions among ocean physics, biology and chemistry and material fluxes, and how these in turn are linked to atmospheric and climatic forcing.