Satellite observations can reveal chlorophyll blooms in the wake of hurricane disturbances but their subsurface biogeochemical anomalies remain poorly described due to limited in situ observations. Here, we quantify the biogeochemical response across the ocean water column to Hurricane Idalia (2023) in the Gulf of America (also known as the Gulf of Mexico). We compile observations across the eastern Gulf using satellite data and two autonomous platforms: a profiling Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) float and saildrone. Prior to the formation of Hurricane Idalia, an anomalously large extension of the Mississippi River plume spanned much of the eastern Gulf, contributing low-salinity and high-chlorophyll conditions. Following Idalia’s passage, the saildrone observed surface chlorophyll increases in the river plume extension, while the BGC-Argo float observed subsurface nitrate depletion and oxygen enrichment. These changes occurred as the float measured background ocean conditions evolving from the edge of the Loop Current to a cyclonic eddy, influenced by the river plume extension. Increases in chlorophyll concentration, decreases in nitrate, and elevated dissolved oxygen levels suggested increased primary production. BGC-Argo float observations revealed enhanced upwelling below the surface layer (~22 m) that shoaled the nitracline, fueling the increase in subsurface primary production (20–50 m depth). Our study provides a glimpse on the surface and subsurface ocean-biogeochemical changes associated with the Hurricane Idalia passage, highlighting the importance of the background mesoscale seascape on shaping the phytoplankton response to hurricane-induced disturbances. The combination of observations underscores the value of continuous in situ monitoring to better understand hurricane-driven impacts on the full ocean water column and the impacts these dynamics have on the base of the marine food web.

Abstract Marine net community production (NCP), a metric of ecosystem functionality, is often estimated as the residual term in a mass balance equation that aims to describe upper ocean variations in the time series of a chemical tracer. The advent of biogeochemical (BGC) Argo profiling floats equipped with nitrate, pH, and oxygen sensors has enabled such NCP estimation across vast ocean regions. Floats typically drift at 1,000 m depth between profiling from ∼2,000 m to the surface every 10 days, resulting in quasi‐Lagrangian time series that can reflect different upper ocean water masses over time. However, limited information about real‐time horizontal tracer gradients often leads to lateral processes being omitted during tracer budget closure, which can bias the residual‐term NCP estimates. To determine the potential magnitude of such biases, we developed a method to quantify and adjust for the impact of lateral float movement across horizontal tracer gradients using dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as our case study. We evaluated the method by extracting artificial float profiles from a depth‐resolved observation‐based DIC product to generate an artificial DIC time series. We then estimated NCP before and after accounting for horizontal gradient effects and compared the results to NCP estimates from an artificial DIC time series extracted at a fixed location along the float trajectory. Testing 10 biogeographical domains with moderate to substantial horizontal DIC gradients, our method significantly improved the precision (by ∼50 to ∼80%) and accuracy (by ∼10 to ∼100%) of regional NCP estimates. This method can be applied to other tracers with multi‐month‐long residence times.

Abstract Understanding factors controlling the biological carbon pump (BCP) at the regional scale is of major interest for better characterizing carbon sequestration into the deep ocean and, therefore, the ocean's role in climate regulation. This study focuses on high‐latitude marine regions, which are responsible for the majority of marine CO2 absorption. Using data from Biogeochemical‐Argo floats, a bioregionalization method was performed on 335 annual time series of chlorophyll a concentration and particulate backscattering coefficient, variables from which particulate organic carbon (POC) could be estimated. This analysis highlighted six regimes characterized by distinct seasonality in productivity, export, and transfer of small POC (<100 μm). Both hemispheres exhibited regimes with strong summer blooms and others with deep chlorophyll maxima. Across these regimes, variations in phytoplankton phenology and particle assemblages drove three distinct systems of BCP strength and efficiency for small particles. Despite these differences, processes such as gravitational sinking, the mixed layer pump, or particle fragmentation facilitated the export of small particles down to ∼1,000 m across all regions. This resulted in an average annual contribution of ∼10% of small particles to total organic carbon fluxes at depth, highlighting the role of small particles in long‐term carbon sequestration. These findings emphasize the need for future investigations into processes driving small‐particle carbon export and transfer in the mesopelagic zone at annual and seasonal scales.

The seasonal variability of phytoplankton vertical distribution is investigated in the South Pacific where observations are scarce and scattered. We used 13 BioGeoChemical‐Argo floats deployed across diverse oceanic environments. The seasonal latitudinal displacement of the Tasman front induces transitions from mesotrophic to oligotrophic conditions. This shift results in Chlorophyll‐a concentration vertical distribution changing from bloom types to Subsurface Chlorophyll Maxima (SCM) types, with intermediate hybrid types between these extremes. Such hybrid profiles frequently occur in the equatorial Pacific, highlighting a large‐scale pattern rather than local island mass effect. In oligotrophic regions, seasonal variations of light availability and stratification dynamics below the mixed layer likely relate SCM to an increase in carbon biomass or photoacclimation. A biomass increase is frequently observed, contrary to previous studies, suggesting that subsurface phytoplankton biomass may have been largely underestimated. This calls for further observations of the water column in these remote undersampled open ocean areas.

Abstract Ocean mesoscale eddies are important drivers of upper ocean physical and biological processes. However, owing to their ephemeral nature and limited observational data, the impact of eddies on three‐dimensional biogeochemical cycles and hence related phytoplankton phenology remains unclear. Here, from ship‐based surveys, we assessed the impact of two eddies of opposite polarity on phytoplankton biomass and community structure, in the upper 200 m of the northwest South China Sea (SCS), as well as their effect on the diapycnal nutrient fluxes and oxygen concentration. These observations revealed that pico‐phytoplankton dominated phytoplankton community, whereas the fraction of micro‐ and nano‐ phytoplankton ( F micro and F nano ) increased with depth, reaching a maximum near the SCM layer (located between 50 and 100 m). The magnitude of SCM and total phytoplankton Chl were greater within the cyclonic eddy (CE) compared to those influenced by the anticyclonic eddy due to the enhanced vertical diapycnal fluxes of nutrients within the CE. The elevated diapycnal nutrient flux in the CE resulted from an increase in turbulent kinetic energy dissipation coefficient and steeper vertical gradients in inorganic nutrients. Pigment‐based chemotaxonomy further indicated that eukaryotes increased significantly in the SCM layer with concentrations reaching 0.16 ± 0.08 mg m −3 ; the enhancement of F micro in the CE was mainly attributed to the increased contribution of diatoms. The vertical biogeochemical dynamics revealed by this research may showcase fundamental characteristics of oligotrophic ecosystems, where mesoscale perturbations are vertically heterogeneous, improving our understanding of the complex biophysical interactions within mesoscale eddies.

<div><p>Coral reefs globally are experiencing more frequent and severe warming events due to anthropogenic driven climate change. Subtropical reefs experience more seasonal variability than lower latitude reefs making them typically more resilient to climate change. With relatively stable coral cover in comparison to other global coral reefs, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the Gulf of Mexico is a series of 17 reefs and banks located on the continental shelf-edge containing a variety of shallow (0-30 m) and mesophotic (30-150 m) coral reef habitats. Here, we use satellite data products to associate open ocean Argo float profiles with eddy features over FGBNMS to study the shelf-edge reef environment spanning nearly two decades (2003-2022). Satellite data show that FGBNMS is frequently influenced (∼15 days/month) by mesoscale eddies. The upper water column variability (0-25 m) is most influenced by the seasonal mixed layer despite eddy interaction. Subsurface seasonal ranges of temperature and salinity are enhanced or suppressed depending on the influence of eddies in relation to the mixed layer depth. Within the mesophotic zone (0-150 m), the largest range of thermal variability between anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies is between 50 and 150 m upwards of 5°C. However, these observed dynamics will likely change as a result of eddy variability associated with projected warming and Loop Current weakening, leading to increased thermal stress in the future.</p><p>Plain Language Summary Coral reefs globally are threatened by climate change, yet some reefs are less impacted than others, such as coral reef habitats in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. This study demonstrates an exposure to large temperature and salinity ranges across different depths throughout the year which may aid in the resiliency and longevity of this ecosystem. The Gulf of Mexico contains some of the most energetic eddies, or spinning currents, in the world. While these eddies originate in the open ocean, they are mobile features that move onto FGBNMS over the shelf-edge ∼15 days/month, translating open ocean physical and biogeochemical signatures.</p><p>Here we find that the eddies on FGBNMS show significant alterations to temperature and salinity conditions. Importantly, the physical oceanography driving the eddy field is expected to weaken under climate change, potentially threatening this unique shelf-edge reef system, and subjecting the coral reef habitats to warmer ocean temperatures in the future.</p></div>

Abstract The Mediterranean Sea has been sampled irregularly by research vessels in the past, mostly by national expeditions in regional waters. To monitor the hydrographic, biogeochemical and circulation changes in the Mediterranean Sea, a systematic repeat oceanographic survey programme called Med-SHIP was recommended by the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) in 2011, as part of the Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP). Med-SHIP consists of zonal and meridional surveys with different frequencies, where comprehensive physical and biogeochemical properties are measured with the highest international standards. The first zonal survey was done in 2011 and repeated in 2018. In addition, a network of meridional (and other key) hydrographic sections were designed: the first cycle of these sections was completed in 2016, with three cruises funded by the EU project EUROFLEETS2. This paper presents the physical and chemical data of the meridional and key transects in the Western and Eastern Mediterranean Sea collected during those cruises.

Deep Chlorophyll Maxima (DCMs) are ubiquitous in low-latitude oceans, and of recognized biogeochemical and ecological importance. DCMs have been observed in the Southern Ocean, initially from ships and recently from profiling robotic floats, but with less understanding of their onset, duration, underlying drivers, or whether they are associated with enhanced biomass features. We report the characteristics of a DCM and a Deep Biomass Maximum (DBM) in the Inter-Polar-Frontal-Zone (IPFZ) south of Australia derived from CTD profiles, shipboard-incubated samples, a towbody, and a BGC-ARGO float. The DCM and DBM were ∼20 m thick and co-located with the nutricline, in the vicinity of a subsurface ammonium maximum characteristic of the IPFZ, but ∼100 m shallower than the ferricline. Towbody transects demonstrated that the co-located DCM/DBM was broadly present across the IPFZ. Large healthy diatoms, with low iron requirements, resided within the DCM/DBM, and fixed up to 20 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. The BGC-ARGO float revealed that DCM/DBM persisted for >3 months. We propose a dual environmental mechanism to drive DCM/DBM formation and persistence within the IPFZ: sustained supply of both recycled iron within the subsurface ammonium maxima, and upward silicate transport from depth. DCM/DBM cell-specific growth rates were considerably slower than those in the overlying mixed layer, implying that phytoplankton losses such as herbivory are also reduced, possibly because of heavily silicified diatom frustules. The light-limited seasonal termination of the observed DCM/DBM did not result in a "diatom dump", rather ongoing diatom downward export occurred throughout its multi-month persistence.

Biogeographical classifications of the global ocean generalize spatiotemporal trends in species or biomass distributions across discrete ocean biomes or provinces. These classifications are generally based on a combination of remote-sensed proxies of phytoplankton biomass and global climatologies of biogeochemical or physical parameters. However, these approaches are limited in their capacity to account for subsurface variability in these parameters. The deployment of autonomous profiling floats in the Biogeochemical Argo network over the last decade has greatly increased global coverage of subsurface measurements of bio-optical proxies for phytoplankton biomass and physiology. In this study, we used empirical orthogonal function analysis to identify the main components of variability in a global data set of 422 annual time series of Chlorophyll a fluorescence and optical backscatter profiles. Applying cluster analysis to these results, we identified six biomes within the global ocean: two high-latitude biomes capturing summer bloom dynamics in the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean and four mid- and low-latitude biomes characterized by variability in the depth and frequency of deep chlorophyll maximum formation. We report the distribution of these biomes along with associated trends in biogeochemical and physicochemical environmental parameters. Our results demonstrate light and nutrients to explain most variability in phytoplankton distributions for all biomes, while highlighting a global inverse relationship between particle stocks in the euphotic zone and transfer efficiency into the mesopelagic zone. In addition to partitioning seasonal variability in vertical phytoplankton distributions at the global scale, our results provide a potentially novel biogeographical classification of the global ocean.

Climatic changes and interannual variability in the Mediterranean overturning circulation are crucially linked to dense water formation in the Levantine Sea, namely the Levantine Intermediate Water whose formation zone, comprising multiple and intermittent sources, extends over fluctuating pathways. To probe into the variability of this water formation and spreading, a unique dataset was collected during the winter of 2019 in the western Levantine Sea, via oceanographic cruises, profiling floats and a glider, at a spatio-temporal distribution suited to resolve mesoscale circulation features and intermittent convection events. This study highlights the competition between two source regions, the Cretan Sea and the Rhodes Cyclonic Gyre, to supply the Mediterranean overturning circulation in Levantine Intermediate Water. The Cretan source was estimated as the most abundant, supported by increasingly saltier water masses coming from the Levantine Sea under the pumping effect of a water deficit caused by strong western outflow toward the Ionian Sea.

Stratified oceanic systems are characterized by the presence of a so-called Deep Chlorophyll a Maximum (DCM) not detectable by ocean color satellites. A DCM can either be a phytoplankton (carbon) biomass maximum (Deep Biomass Maximum, DBM), or the consequence of photoacclimation processes (Deep photoAcclimation Maximum, DAM) resulting in the increase of chlorophyll a per phytoplankton carbon. Even though these DCM (further qualified as either DBMs or DAMs) have long been studied, no global-scale assessment has yet been undertaken and large knowledge gaps still remain in relation to the environmental drivers responsible for their formation and maintenance. In order to investigate their spatial and temporal variability in the open ocean, we use a global data set acquired by more than 500 Biogeochemical-Argo floats given that DCMs can be detected from the comparative vertical distribution of chlorophyll a concentrations and particulate backscattering coefficients. Our findings show that the seasonal dynamics of the DCMs are clearly region-dependent. High-latitude environments are characterized by a low occurrence of intense DBMs, restricted to summer. Meanwhile, oligotrophic regions host permanent DAMs, occasionally replaced by DBMs in summer, while subequatorial waters are characterized by permanent DBMs benefiting from favorable conditions in terms of both light and nutrients. Overall, the appearance and depth of DCMs are primarily driven by light attenuation in the upper layer. Our present assessment of DCM occurrence and of environmental conditions prevailing in their development lay the basis for a better understanding and quantification of their role in carbon budgets (primary production and export).

Measuring the underwater light field is a key mission of the international Biogeochemical-Argo program. Since 2012, 0–250 dbar profiles of downwelling irradiance at 380, 412 and 490 nm besides photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) have been acquired across the globe every 1 to 10 days. The resulting unprecedented amount of radiometric data has been previously quality-controlled for real-time distribution and ocean optics applications, yet some issues affecting the accuracy of measurements at depth have been identified such as changes in sensor dark responsiveness to ambient temperature, with time and according to the material used to build the instrument components. Here, we propose a quality-control procedure to solve these sensor issues to make Argo radiometry data available for delayed-mode distribution, with associated error estimation. The presented protocol requires the acquisition of ancillary radiometric measurements at the 1000 dbar parking depth and night-time profiles. A test on >10,000 profiles from across the world revealed a quality-control success rate >90% for each band. The procedure shows similar performance in re-qualifying low radiometry values across diverse oceanic regions. We finally recommend, for future deployments, acquiring daily 1000 dbar measurements and one night profile per year, preferably during moonless nights and when the temperature range between the surface and 1000 dbar is the largest.

L’objectif de cette thèse consiste à cartographier la distribution régionale et saisonnière des maxima profonds de chlorophylle a (« Deep Chlorophyll Maxima », DCM) dans l’océan global, à comprendre les paramètres environnementaux qui contrôlent leur formation et leur persistance, et à estimer leur contribution dans les bilans de production primaire (PP) à l’échelle globale. Cette approche se base sur les mesures des flotteurs profileurs Biogéochimique-Argo (BGC-Argo). Une méthode de détection des DCMs et de leur typologie ( maxima de biomasse ou de photoacclimatation) a été développée et appliquée sur ~60,000 profils de fluorescence de la chlorophylle a et du coefficient de rétrodiffusion particulaire (estimateurs respectifs de la concentration en chlorophylle a [Chla], et du carbone organique particulaire). A partir de cette classification, l’occurrence spatiale et temporelle des DCMs a été décrite dans 28 régions de l’océan mondial, permettant d’affiner la description de leurs caractéristiques, de grouper ces régions en quatre types selon leurs similarité, et d'en décrire les principales configurations environnementales (profils d'éclairement et de nitrates). Dans un second temps, l’impact des tourbillons de mésoéchelle a été étudié sur la présence des DCMs et sur leurs propriétés par la co-localisation de la base de profils BGC-Argo avec un atlas de tourbillons de mésoéchelle détectés par altimétrie satellite. Enfin une estimation de la contribution des DCMs à la PP globale a été estimée ainsi qu’une analyse de performance de deux modèles d’estimation des profils verticaux de [Chla] à partir des observations satellites en comparaison avec les mesures BGC-Argo.

Coccolithophores (calcifying phytoplankton) form extensive blooms in temperate and subpolar oceans as evidenced from ocean-color satellites. This study examines the potential to detect coccolithophore blooms with BioGeoChemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats, autonomous ocean profilers equipped with bio-optical and physicochemical sensors. We first matched float data to ocean-color satellite data of calcite concentration to select floats that sampled coccolithophore blooms. We identified two floats in the Southern Ocean, which measured the particulate beam attenuation coefficient (c p) in addition to two core BGC-Argo variables, Chlorophyll-a concentration ([Chl-a]) and the particle backscattering coefficient (b bp). We show that coccolithophore blooms can be identified from floats by distinctively high values of (1) the b bp /c p ratio, a proxy for the refractive index of suspended particles, and (2) the b bp /[Chl-a] ratio, measurable by any BGC-Argo float. The latter thus paves the way to global investigations of environmental control of coccolithophore blooms and their role in carbon export. Plain Language Summary Coccolithophores are a group of phytoplankton that form an armor of calcite plates. Coccolithophores may form intense blooms which can be identified from space by so-called ocean-color satellites, providing global images of the color of the surface ocean. BioGeoChemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats, robots profiling down to 2,000 m with a variety of physicochemical and bio-optical sensors, present an increasingly attractive and cost-effective platform to study phytoplankton blooms and their impact on oceanic biogeochemical cycles. We show that coccolithophore blooms can be detected by BGC-Argo floats with high confidence, hence providing a new way to study them at the global scale as well as their role in sinking carbon.

Understanding spatial and temporal dynamics of non-algal particles (NAP) in open ocean is of the utmost importance to improve estimations of carbon export and sequestration. These particles covary with phytoplankton abundance but also accumulate independently of algal dynamics. The latter likely represents an important fraction of organic carbon but it is largely overlooked. A possible way to study these particles is via their optical backscattering properties (b bp) and relationship with chlorophyll-a (Chl). To this aim, we estimate the fraction of b bp associated with the NAP portion () that does not covary with Chl by using a global Biogeochemical-Argo dataset. We quantify the spatial, temporal and vertical variability of. In the northern productive areas, is a small fraction of b bp and shows a clear seasonal cycle. In the Southern Ocean, b k bp is a major fraction of total b bp. In oligotrophic areas, has a smooth annual cycle.