Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms

Episodic eddy-driven upwelling may supply a significant fraction of the nutrients required to sustain primary productivity of the subtropical ocean. New observations in the northwest Atlantic reveal that, although plankton blooms occur in both cyclones and mode-water eddies, the biological responses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Anderson, Laurence A., Bates, Nicholas R., Bibby, Thomas, Buesseler, Ken O., Carlson, Craig A., Davis, Cabell S., Ewart, Courtney, Falkowski, Paul G., Goldthwait, Sarah A., Hansell, Dennis A., Jenkins, William J., Johnson, Rodney, Kosnyrev, Valery K., Ledwell, James R., Li, Qian P., Siegel, David A., Steinberg, Deborah K.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2007
Subjects:
Northwest Atlantic
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1136256
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1136256
Description
Summary:Episodic eddy-driven upwelling may supply a significant fraction of the nutrients required to sustain primary productivity of the subtropical ocean. New observations in the northwest Atlantic reveal that, although plankton blooms occur in both cyclones and mode-water eddies, the biological responses differ. Mode-water eddies can generate extraordinary diatom biomass and primary production at depth, relative to the time series near Bermuda. These blooms are sustained by eddy/wind interactions, which amplify the eddy-induced upwelling. In contrast, eddy/wind interactions dampen eddy-induced upwelling in cyclones. Carbon export inferred from oxygen anomalies in eddy cores is one to three times as much as annual new production for the region.

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