Biogenic silica standing stock and its rate of production and export in the offshore Southern California Current Ecosystem, 2011 - 2016

Here we report the complete results of a study on the cycling of biogenic silica (bSiO2) during the P1106 CCE Long Term Ecological Research process cruise examining process related to offshore fronts. Concentrations of bSiO2 varied by 25-fold across the front, with concentrations in frontal waters 20–25% of those in coastal waters. Rates of biogenic silica production spanned an equally large range, with rates within the frontal region that were half those in the coastal regions. The results suggest that the regions of frontal interactions between eddies in the southern CCE can account for variability in diatom biomass, productivity and export over very short spatial scales that is comparable to the variability observed across the Pacific basin.