Autonomous data describe North Atlantic spring bloom

Abstract

Each spring, increasing sunlight and associated changes in the ocean structure trigger rapid growth of phytoplankton across most of the North Atlantic Ocean north of 30N. The bloom, one of the largest in the world, is a major sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and a prototype for similar blooms around the world. Models of the ocean carbon cycle, a necessary component of climate models, need to accurately reproduce the biological, chemical, and physical processes occurring during these blooms. However, a paucity of detailed observations severely limits efforts to evaluate such models.