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主要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是如何工作的贡献是多方面和深远的。然而，这样的研究非常罕见--特别是那些具有生物地球化学焦点的研究。自1978年以来，在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所科学家的指导下，海洋通量计划(OFP)一直在测量马尾藻深海的颗粒通量。25年的OFP时间序列是迄今为止同类时间序列中最长的，其对深海的关注也是独一无二的。OFP在“生物泵”中制作了一个独特的、尽管经过“编辑”的时间变异性记录，这里大致指的是由上层海洋生物/物理过程引起的从表层到深海的物质转移。OFP为深海的季节性以及深海通量和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，表明生物再处理沉降量和清除悬浮物质的强度，特别是在中上层水域。该记录记录了进入深海的物质通量的年际和较长期变化，以及由中尺度物理变率和天气气象强迫之间的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盆地尺度气候变化的角度来研究这种变异性，这些变化改变了海洋的功能，例如北大西洋振荡。本项目将继续为这一独特的和基本的海洋时间序列提供资金。随着记录变得更长，科学界将能够更好地从气候和海洋功能之间的相互作用的角度来看待观察到的波动。百慕大时间序列站点的三项协调和互补的研究--OFP、百慕大大西洋时间序列(BATS)和百慕大试验床系泊(BTM)--以及新的海洋技术，现在为研究海洋物理、生物和化学以及物质通量之间相互作用的细节，以及这些相互作用又如何与大气和气候强迫联系在一起提供了前所未有的机会。

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.