Turk¹, Daniela, Todd Mudge², David Antoine³, Michael J. McPhaden⁴ and Marlon R. Lewis⁵

¹Canadian SOLAS Secretariat, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1, Tel: ++ (902) 494-1612, Fax: ++(902) 494-2697, E-mail: neli@dal.ca, ²SonTek/YSI Incorporated, 6837 Nancy Ridge Drive, Suite A, San Diego,CA 92121, ³Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Quai de La Darse, BP 8, 06238 Villefranche sur Mer Cedex, France, ⁴Dept. of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1, ⁵NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115

Biological production and f-ratio in the equatorial Pacific

The importance of interannual fluctuations of the coupled climate system over the Pacific Ocean have been known for quite some time; however, the significance of interannual variability in biological production and ecosystem structure in the tropical Pacific for the global carbon cycle has only recently been suggested. Here, we make use of a new, multi-satellite approach and buoy observations to provide means to synoptically monitor the magnitude of such variability over a large area of the equatorial Pacific.

Specifically, we present independent, remotely-sensed, measures of total and new production, and examine the variability in the derived f-ratio over large space scales in the equatorial Pacific, and over interannual time-scales. We present and discuss the coherence between the two independent measures, evaluate the nature of the physical and ecological processes and structure that give rise to the observed variability over these scales, and evaluate the consequences of this variability for carbon fluxes in this dynamically important area