Biogeosciences Discuss., doi:10.5194/bg-2017-110, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Discussion started: 13 April 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3.0 License. The Influence of Environmental Variability on the Biogeography of Coccolithophores and Diatoms in the Great Calcite Belt Helen E. K. Smith1,2, Alex J. Poulton1,3, Rebecca Garley4, Jason Hopkins5, Laura C. Lubelczyk5, Dave T. Drapeau5, Sara Rauschenberg5, Ben S. Twining5, Nicholas R. Bates2,4, William M. Balch5 5 1National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, U.K. 2School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, U.K. 3Present address: The Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 7JG, U.K. 10 4Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, 17 Biological Station, Ferry Reach, St. George's GE 01, Bermuda. 5Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 60 Bigelow Drive, P.O. Box 380, East Boothbay, Maine 04544, USA. Correspondence to: Helen E.K. Smith (
[email protected]) Abstract. The Great Calcite Belt (GCB) of the Southern Ocean is a region of elevated summertime upper ocean calcite 15 concentration derived from coccolithophores, despite the region being known for its diatom predominance. The overlap of two major phytoplankton groups, coccolithophores and diatoms, in the dynamic frontal systems characteristic of this region, provides an ideal setting to study environmental influences on the distribution of different species within these taxonomic groups. Water samples for phytoplankton enumeration were collected from the upper 30 m during two cruises, the first to the South Atlantic sector (Jan-Feb 2011; 60o W-15o E and 36-60o S) and the second in the South Indian sector (Feb-Mar 2012; 20 40-120o E and 36-60o S).