Insights into the spatio-temporal productivity distribution in the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean provided by satellite observations ...

• Main Authors: Dragon, Anne-Cécile, Marchand, Stéphane, Authier, Matthieu, Cotté, Cédric, Blain, Stéphane, Guinet, Christophe
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cybium 2011
• Subjects: Biological richness, Chlorophyll-a, Interfrontal zone, Phytoplankton biomass, Remote sensing, SeaWIFS; Antarctic; Indian; Kerguelen; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2011-35sp-006; http://sfi-cybium.fr/fr/insights-spatio-temporal-productivity-distribution-indian-sector-southern-ocean-provided-satellite

In the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean, satellite data were used to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of phytoplankton bloom in relation to physical oceanographic variations. Three geographical sectors were considered: the interfrontal zone, the Kerguelen Plateau and the Antarctic sector. The Kerguelen Plateau produces a very large phytoplankton bloom due to its relatively shallow depths and strong vertical mixing, that contrast with the surrounding high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters of the interfrontal zone of the Southern Ocean. Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of phytoplankton biomass, as a proxy of primary production, is of fundamental importance since primary production sets a first-order constraint on the energy available to sustain the entire ecosystem. Analyses of high quality ocean color datasets revealed details of the inter-annual, seasonal and spatial dynamics of phytoplankton over the plateau, in the interfrontal zone and in the Antarctic sector. The parts of the ...