Biological Oceanography
in a Changing Ocean

FLUXES (2016-2019): Constraining organic carbon fluxes in an eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem (NW Africa): the role of non-sinking carbon in the context of the "biological pump” (CTM2015-69392-C3)

The main goal of FLUXES is to quantify the relevance of labile and semi-labile dissolved (DOC) and suspended (POCs) organic carbon (i.e. non-sinking organic carbon) in the context of the biological pump (BP), in Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems (EBUE). The Cape Blanc region (NW Africa), characterized by a rich mesoscale variability resulting from the interaction of the upwelling system and the Cape Verde Frontal Zone that built up the Giant Filament, will be used as a case study. We want to test the hypothesis that offshore lateral advection of POCs, as well as secondary circulation at the submesoscale range and vertical mixing of DOC and POCs, contribute significantly to the export of organic carbon in EBUE.