Observations and Biogeochemical Modeling Reveal Chlorophyll Diel Cycle With Near-Sunset Maxima in the Red Sea

Abstract

The Red Sea is an extremely warm tropical sea hosting diverse ecosystems, with marine organisms operating at the high end of their thermal tolerance. Therefore, in the context of global warming, it is increasingly important to understand the Red Sea ecosystem, including the variability of chlorophyll at different spatiotemporal scales. Using a coupled physical–biogeochemical model and in situ data, we investigate and quantify the diel cycle in Red Sea chlorophyll concentration for the first time, revealing near-sunset chlorophyll maxima at 17 ± 1 hr local time over the entire basin. This chlorophyll peak time is considerably later than those reported in most other oceans, reflecting the previously reported high irradiance and further suggesting potentially low grazing rates in the Red Sea. Model-based analyses reveal that chlorophyll diel cycle is predominantly controlled by light-driven circadian rhythm (i.e., irradiance), whereas longer-timescale (e.g., seasonal) chlorophyll variability is regulated by nutrient availability, suggesting a light-limited biological production on a diel timescale and a nutrient-limited production on a seasonal scale. The identified chlorophyll diel cycle comprises a fundamental component of the Red Sea ecology and has implications for chlorophyll remote sensing and in situ measurements. Our findings indicate that future field studies investigating phytoplankton growth and zooplankton grazing dynamics—such as phytoplankton community composition and zooplankton diel vertical migration—are still needed to further elucidate the revealed chlorophyll diel cycle in this potentially unique tropical sea.