Coastal ecosystems host high levels of primary productivity leading to exceptionally dynamic elemental cycling in both water and sediments. In such environments, carbon is rapidly cycled leading to high rates of burial as organic matter and/or high rates of loss to the atmosphere and laterally to the coastal ocean in simpler forms, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ). To better understand carbon cycling across these heterogeneous environments, new technologies beyond discrete sample collection and analysis are needed to characterize spatial and temporal variability. Here, we describe the ChemYak, an autonomous surface vehicle outfitted with a suite of in situ sensors, developed to achieve large spatial scale chemical mapping of these environments. Dissolved methane and carbon dioxide are measured by a laser spectrometer coupled to a gas extraction unit for continuous quantification during operation. The gas-powered vehicle is capable of rapidly surveying the coastal system with an endurance of up to 10 h at operating speeds in excess of 10 km h −1 . Here, we demonstrate its ability to spatially characterize distributions of CO 2 , CH 4 , oxygen, and nitrate throughout a New England saltmarsh estuary.

The Arctic Ocean is experiencing profound environmental changes as the climate warms. Understanding how these changes will affect Arctic biological productivity is key for predicting future Arctic ecosystems and the global CO2 balance. Here we use in situ gas measurements to quantify rates of gross oxygen production (GOP, total photosynthesis) and net community production (NCP, net CO2 drawdown by the biological pump) in the mixed layer in summer or fall from 2011 to 2016 in the Beaufort Gyre. NCP and GOP show spatial and temporal variations with higher values linked with lower concentrations of sea ice and increased upper ocean stratification. Mean rates of GOP range from 8 ± 1 to 54 ± 9 mmol O2·m−2·d−1 with the highest mean rates occurring in summer of 2012. Mean rates of NCP ranged from 1.3 ± 0.2 to 2.9 ± 0.5 mmol O2·m−2·d−1. The mean ratio of NCP/GOP, a measure of how efficiently the ecosystem is recycling its nutrients, ranged from 0.04 to 0.17, similar to ratios observed at lower latitudes. Additionally, a large increase in total photosynthesis that occurred in 2012, a year of historically low sea ice coverage, persisted for many years. Taken together, these data provide one of the most complete characterizations of interannual variations of biological productivity in this climatically important region, can serve as a baseline for future changes in rates of production, and give an intriguing glimpse of how this region of the Arctic may respond to future lack of sea ice.

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The balance of marine autotrophy and heterotrophy regulates the ocean's ability to serve as a CO2 sink, as organic material produced by autotrophs sinks into the ocean interior to drive the biological pump. Marine ecosystems over the continental margins, especially coastal upwelling regions, account for a disproportionate amount of carbon export; thus, even small fluctuations in export in these regions can have a large impact on the global carbon cycle. In this study, we estimated the rate of gross oxygen production (GOP), stoichiometrically related to gross primary production, by combining measurements of the triple isotope composition of dissolved oxygen with estimates of vertical advection, eddy diffusion, and air‐sea gas exchange in a one‐dimensional two‐box nonsteady state model of the euphotic zone. Net oxygen production (NOP) estimates based on O2/Ar were then combined with GOP to estimate the NOP/GOP ratio, or potential export efficiency, out of the euphotic zone at the San Pedro Ocean Time‐series during an 18 month period between January 2013 and June 2014. GOP estimates ranged from 161 ± 44 to 477 ± 155 mmol m−2 d−1 during this period, peaking in May each year, and NOP/GOP ratios ranged from 0.05 ± 0.10 to 0.65 ± 0.28. The highest export efficiency occurred in late February/early March, following the onset of spring upwelling, declining as the upwelling season continued. This study demonstrates that export efficiency changes through time in this temperate coastal upwelling region on a repeated annual cycle, and the magnitude of export efficiency suggests efficient photosynthetic energy conversion by phytoplankton in spring.

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