Articles | Volume 21, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1223-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1223-2025
Research article
 | 
04 Jul 2025
Research article |  | 04 Jul 2025

Critical uncoupling between biogeochemical stocks and rates in Ross Sea springtime production–export dynamics

Meredith G. Meyer, Esther Portela, Walker O. Smith Jr., and Karen J. Heywood

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Cited articles

Alkire, M. B., Lee, C., D'Asaro, E., Perry, M. J., Briggs, N., Cetinic, I., and Gray, A.: Net community production and export from Seaglider measurements in the North Atlantic after the spring bloom, J. Geophys. Res., 119, 6121–6139, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010105, 2014. 
Arrigo, K. R., van Dijken, G. L., and Bushinsky, S.: Primary production in the Southern Ocean, 1997–2006, J. Geophys. Res., 113, 184–227, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004551, 2008. 
Becquevort, S. and Smith Jr., W. O.: Aggregation, sedimentation and biodegradability of phytoplankton-derived material during spring in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. II, 48, 19–20, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(01)00084-4, 2001. 
Bittig, H. C., Kortzinger, A., Neill, C., van Ooijen, E., Plant, J. N., Hahn, J., Johnson, K. S., Yang, B., and Emerson, S. R.: Oxygen optode sensors: principle, characterization, calibration, and application in the ocean, Front. Mar. Sci., 4, 429, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00429, 2018. 
Boss, E. and Pegau, W. S.: Relationship of light scattering at an angle in the backward direction to the backscattering coefficient, Appl. Optics, 40, 5503–5507, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.40.005503, 2001. 
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Short summary
During the annual phytoplankton bloom, rates of primary production and carbon export in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, are uncoupled from each other and from oxygen and carbon stocks. These biogeochemical rates support the high-productivity, low-export classification of the region and suggest that environmental factors influence these stocks and rates differently and make projections under future climate change scenarios difficult.
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