PAOC Colloquium: Jorge Sarmiento (Princeton)

Title: First results from year-around biogeochemical float observations in the Southern Ocean

Jorge L. Sarmiento, Princeton University

Abstract: Understanding of Southern Ocean biogeochemical and carbon system processes is severely hampered by the virtual absence of wintertime observations over most of the region. I report on initial findings by the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) Project, which will eventually deploy ~200 Argo type floats equipped with nitrate, oxygen, pH and optical sensors, of which >50 have already been launched. Initial analysis of a subset of these floats exhibits wintertime behavior that differs dramatically from what had been inferred previously, with major implications for our understanding of the ocean carbon cycle.