SeaWiFS chlorophyll imagery of the iron-fertilized area of SOIREE ...

The growth of populations is known to be influenced by dispersal, which has often been described as purely diffusive (Kierstead and Slobodkin, 1953; Okubo, 1980). In the open ocean, however, the tendrils and filaments of phytoplankton populations provide evidence for dispersal by stirring (Gower et...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abraham, Edward R, Law, Cliff S, Boyd, Philip W, Lavender, Samantha J, Maldonado, Maria T, Bowie, Andrew R
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2000
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.104769
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.104769
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Summary:The growth of populations is known to be influenced by dispersal, which has often been described as purely diffusive (Kierstead and Slobodkin, 1953; Okubo, 1980). In the open ocean, however, the tendrils and filaments of phytoplankton populations provide evidence for dispersal by stirring (Gower et al., 1980, doi:10.1038/288157a0; Holligan et al., 1993, doi:10.1029/93GB01731). Despite the apparent importance of horizontal stirring for plankton ecology, this process remains poorly characterized. Here we investigate the development of a discrete phytoplankton bloom, which was initiated by the iron fertilization of a patch of water (7 km in diameter) in the Southern Ocean (Boyd et al., 2000, doi:10.1038/35037500). Satellite images show a striking, 150-km-long bloom near the experimental site, six weeks after the initial fertilization. We argue that the ribbon-like bloom was produced from the fertilized patch through stirring, growth and diffusion, and we derive an estimate of the stirring rate. In this case, ... : Supplement to: Abraham, Edward R; Law, Cliff S; Boyd, Philip W; Lavender, Samantha J; Maldonado, Maria T; Bowie, Andrew R (2000): Importance of stirring in the development of an iron-fertilized bloom. Nature, 407(6805), 727-730 ...