Fig. 2: Characteristics of the particle assemblage over three annual cycles, quantified by float-derived bio-optical proxies. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Characteristics of the particle assemblage over three annual cycles, quantified by float-derived bio-optical proxies.

From: Seasonality of downward carbon export in the Pacific Southern Ocean revealed by multi-year robotic observations

Fig. 2

Timeseries of a particulate organic carbon (POC) derived from bbp, and b chlorophyll to backscattering ratio Chls / bbs. Black lines show the mixing layer depth (MLDbio). c Mean particle size (diameter) in the upper 50 m estimated from high-frequency variations in bbp and the beam attenuation coefficient cp using the variance-to-mean ratio method52 (see Methods). The blue line represents the median and vertical lines represent inter-quartile ranges, over 10-d bins. Grey bars show the iron stress index αNPQ averaged over 30-d bins. αNPQ was derived from the non-photochemical signal in float fluorescence profiles (see Methods). As milestones, triangles on top of each panel mark the timing of onset (first positive net phytoplankton accumulation), climax (maximum accumulation) and apex (maximum phytoplankton carbon stock) for each bloom, following the method in Uchida et al. 201968 (see Methods).

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