Jens Terhaar1,2,3,4, Ronny Lauerwald5,6,7, Pierre Regnier6, Nicolas Gruber8, Laurent Bopp9. 1. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. jens.terhaar@climate.unibe.ch. 2. Biogeochemistry and Earth System Modelling, Department of Geoscience, Environment and Society, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium. jens.terhaar@climate.unibe.ch. 3. Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. jens.terhaar@climate.unibe.ch. 4. Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. jens.terhaar@climate.unibe.ch. 5. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. 6. Biogeochemistry and Earth System Modelling, Department of Geoscience, Environment and Society, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium. 7. Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, UMR ECOSYS, 78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France. 8. Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 9. LMD/IPSL, Ecole Normale Supérieure/PSL University, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.
Abstract
Net primary production (NPP) is the foundation of the oceans' ecosystems and the fisheries they support. In the Arctic Ocean, NPP is controlled by a complex interplay of light and nutrients supplied by upwelling as well as lateral inflows from adjacent oceans and land. But so far, the role of the input from land by rivers and coastal erosion has not been given much attention. Here, by upscaling observations from the six largest rivers and using measured coastal erosion rates, we construct a pan-Arctic, spatio-temporally resolved estimate of the land input of carbon and nutrients to the Arctic Ocean. Using an ocean-biogeochemical model, we estimate that this input fuels 28-51% of the current annual Arctic Ocean NPP. This strong enhancement of NPP is a consequence of efficient recycling of the land-derived nutrients on the vast Arctic shelves. Our results thus suggest that nutrient input from the land is a key process that will affect the future evolution of Arctic Ocean NPP.
Net primary production (NPP) is the foundation of the oceans' ecosystems and the fisheries they support. In the Arctic Ocean, NPP is controlled by a complex interplay of light and nutrients supplied by upwelling as well as lateral inflows from adjclass="Chemical">aceclass="Chemical">nt oceaclass="Chemical">ns aclass="Chemical">nd laclass="Chemical">nd. But so far, the role of the iclass="Chemical">nput from laclass="Chemical">nd by rivers aclass="Chemical">nd coastal erosioclass="Chemical">n has class="Chemical">not beeclass="Chemical">n giveclass="Chemical">n much atteclass="Chemical">ntioclass="Chemical">n. Here, by upscaliclass="Chemical">ng observatioclass="Chemical">ns from the six largest rivers aclass="Chemical">nd usiclass="Chemical">ng measured coastal erosioclass="Chemical">n rates, we coclass="Chemical">nstruct a paclass="Chemical">n-Arctic, spatio-temporally resolved estimate of the laclass="Chemical">nd iclass="Chemical">nput of class="Chemical">n class="Chemical">carbon and nutrients to the Arctic Ocean. Using an ocean-biogeochemical model, we estimate that this input fuels 28-51% of the current annual Arctic Ocean NPP. This strong enhancement of NPP is a consequence of efficient recycling of the land-derived nutrients on the vast Arctic shelves. Our results thus suggest that nutrient input from the land is a key process that will affect the future evolution of Arctic Ocean NPP.
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