1. Mesoscale variability and nutrient-phytoplankton distributions off central-southern chile during the upwelling season: the influence of mesoscale eddies
- Author
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Camila Fernandez, Nelson R.F.A. Silva, Carmen E. Morales, Samuel Hormazabal, M. Loreto Torreblanca, Oscar Pizarro, Valeria Anabalón, Marco Correa-Ramirez, COPAS SURAUSTRAL Program, Universidad de Concepción [Chile], Centro FONDAP de Investigación en Dinámica de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), Universidad Austral de Chile, Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research = Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación en Acuicultura Sustentable [Concepción, Chile] (INCAR), Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne (LOMIC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls (OOB), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Universidad de Concepción - University of Concepcion [Chile]
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean, Atmosphere ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Advection ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Mesoscale meteorology ,Geology ,Context (language use) ,Aquatic Science ,01 natural sciences ,Oceanography ,Eddy ,Anticyclone ,Phytoplankton ,Upwelling ,14. Life underwater ,Subsurface flow ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Mesoscale features are recurrently found in the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) off central-southern Chile (∼35–40°S), a region characterized by seasonal wind-driven coastal upwelling. In this study, oceanographic data from two consecutive cruises carried out during the upwelling season (January 2009) were combined with satellite time series data in order to characterize the structure and evolution of mesoscale eddies and to explore their influence on phytoplankton structure and nutrient distribution, in the context of organic carbon exchanges between the coastal upwelling zone and the CTZ. Two coastally-generated, contiguous mesoscale eddies (∼2 months old) were characterized: a surface cyclonic eddy (CC1) and a subsurface anticyclonic eddy (AA1). The distributions of salinity and dissolved oxygen, together with nutrients, suggested that both eddies were sites of vertical injection of high nutrient concentrations from the Equatorial Subsurface Water mass (ESSW) into the upper layer in the CTZ. In addition, eddy AA1, in combination with an upwelling plume, was involved in the offshore advection of nutrients from the core of the ESSW located in the coastal zone. At shallow depths (
- Published
- 2012
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