Wave-Coupled Effects on Oceanic Biogeochemistry: Insights From a Global Ocean Biogeochemical Model in the Southern Ocean

Oceanic biogeochemistry plays a pivotal role in regulating Earth's climate system by governing the cycling of key elements such as carbon, oxygen, and nutrients. Various metocean processes including wind, tides, currents, waves, and eddies significantly influence the dynamics of this system. In particular, ocean surface waves contribute to this intricate interplay by facilitating the exchange of heat, gas, and momentum between the atmosphere and the ocean. Although wave-coupled effects are substantial, studies on their impacts on oceanic biogeochemistry, particularly on phytoplankton abundance are missing in present-day research. Additionally, wave-coupled effects cannot be disregarded in regions like the Southern Ocean (SO), where wind and waves activities are prominent. Addressing this gap, we incorporated a parameterization of surface wave mixing into a global ocean biogeochemical model to investigate its effects on upper ocean and biogeochemical parameters. Our results show that surface wave mixing has significant impacts on sea surface temperature (SST), mixed layer depth (MLD), and nutrient distribution—key factors that influence phytoplankton growth. Additionally, we observed significant improvements in model biases against the observations. During austral summer, additional mixing from surface waves can significantly lower SST by 0.5°C, deepen MLD by 13 m, and enhance Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration, an index of phytoplankton population, by 8% in the SO. This observed increase in Chl-a concentration is mainly driven by enhanced dissolved iron levels resulting from wave-induced mixing. Our findings underscore the significance of incorporating surface wave mixing in ocean biogeochemistry studies, an aspect that is currently overlooked.