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Time series plots from the surface mooring and the 2,229 meter sediment trap. The sea surface and air temperature (upper plot) show the cooling that occurs during both the northeast monsoon and the southwest monsoon. The modest winds of the northeast monsoon together with loss of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere lead to deepening of the mixed layer (third plot down) in December and January. The deepening of the mixed layer in June and July during the southwest monsoon results from mixing driven by the very strong winds. The mass flux and carbon flux time series (fourth and fifth down) track the export production seen in the plots above these. Time series of the ratios of chemical species in the 2,229 meter trap, organic to inorganic carbon and silicon to calcium, and of the flux of inorganic and organic carbon (bottom) indicate that the chemical signatures vary with wind velocity (positive relationship) and mixed layer depth (negative relationship). The authors are intrigued by the variability and the possibility of linking it to the physics of the mixing that brings nutrients to the surface.
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