The Carbon Balance during the 1989 Spring Bloom in the North-Atlantic Ocean, 47-Degrees-N, 20-Degrees-W

We report on studies of the carbon balance of the upper water column, done as part of the JGOFS North Atlantic Bloom Experiment, over a 13-day period, at 47-degrees-N, 20-degrees-W, during the 1989 spring phytoplankton bloom. Gross carbon production was calculated from data on O-18 gross O2 production and from C-14 production as well. Net carbon production was calculated from net O2 production rates measured in vitro, as well as from changes in the inventories of nutrients and O2 along with O2 evasion rates by gas exchange. Gross carbon production during this period was measured to be 1.83 mol m-2, and net production was 0.68 mol m-2. Of this net carbon production, 0.30 mol m-2 was stored in the euphotic zone as particulate organic carbon, and 0.09 mol m-2 rained out to depths >150 m. The remainder was remineralized to DIC in the 50-150 m depth interval, with perhaps some DOC storage in the upper 150 m.