EARLY-SPRING EXPORT OF PHYTOPLANKTON PRODUCTION IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC-OCEAN

Detailed observations of water column temperature and phytoplankton bi omass in the northeast Atlantic Ocean prior to the advent of the sprin g bloom in 1989 show brief periods of water column stabilization and p hytoplankton production, interspersed with times where temperature and biomass are constant over greater depths. Since stable layers re-form from the surface, the observed variability in mixed layer depth is an alyzed as isolating phytoplankton beneath the euphotic zone, potential ly contributing to the annual exported production in the temperate Nor th Atlantic.