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

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.

本研究报道了P1106 CCE长期生态研究过程航次中有关生源硅（biogenic silica, bSiO₂）循环的完整研究结果，该航次旨在考察近海锋面相关的海洋过程。锋面两侧的生源硅浓度差异可达25倍，锋区水体中的生源硅浓度仅为近岸水体的20%~25%。生源硅生产速率的变化范围同样跨度极大，锋区的生产速率仅为近岸区域的一半。研究结果表明，南加利福尼亚洋流生态系统（CCE）内涡旋间的锋面交互区域，能够解释短空间尺度下硅藻生物量、初级生产力以及生源硅输出通量的变异，该变异幅度可与整个太平洋海盆观测到的变异水平相媲美。