A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic
The Canary Current System (CanCS) is a major eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS), known for its high nearshore productivity and for sustaining a large fishery. It is also an important but not well quantified source of nitrogen to the adjacent oligotrophic subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic....
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Copernicus Publications
2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:68f28f591a8e44d0a79bfeb67ee68a59 2023-05-15T17:32:34+02:00 A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic D. Hailegeorgis Z. Lachkar C. Rieper N. Gruber 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 https://doaj.org/article/68f28f591a8e44d0a79bfeb67ee68a59 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/303/2021/bg-18-303-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/68f28f591a8e44d0a79bfeb67ee68a59 Biogeosciences, Vol 18, Pp 303-325 (2021) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 2022-12-30T22:02:32Z The Canary Current System (CanCS) is a major eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS), known for its high nearshore productivity and for sustaining a large fishery. It is also an important but not well quantified source of nitrogen to the adjacent oligotrophic subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic. Here, we use a Lagrangian modeling approach to quantify this offshore transport and investigate its timescales, reach and contribution to the fueling of productivity in the offshore regions. In our Lagrangian model, we release nearly 10 million particles off the northwestern African coast and then track all those that enter the nearshore region and upwell along the coast between 14 and 35 ∘ N. We then follow them as they are transported offshore, also tracking the biogeochemical transformations, permitting us to construct biogeochemical budgets along the offshore moving particles. The three-dimensional velocity field as well as the biogeochemical tracers and fluxes are taken from an eddy-resolving configuration of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Our Lagrangian model analysis reveals a very intense offshore transport of nitrogen, with about 20 %–40 % in the form of organic nitrogen. The transport varies greatly along the coast. Even though the central CanCS (21–28 ∘ N) transports the largest amount of water offshore, its offshore transport of nitrogen is somewhat smaller than that in the southern CanCS (14–21 ∘ N), primarily because of the higher nitrogen content of the upwelling waters there. Around one-third of the total offshore transport of water occurs around major capes along the CanCS. The persistent filaments associated with these capes are responsible for an up to 4-fold enhancement of the offshore transport of water and nitrogen in the first 400 km. Much of this water and nitrogen stems from upwelling at quite some distance from the capes, confirming the capes' role in collecting water from along the coast. North of Cape Blanc and within the first 500 km from the coast, water recirculation is a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 18 1 303 325 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 D. Hailegeorgis Z. Lachkar C. Rieper N. Gruber A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The Canary Current System (CanCS) is a major eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS), known for its high nearshore productivity and for sustaining a large fishery. It is also an important but not well quantified source of nitrogen to the adjacent oligotrophic subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic. Here, we use a Lagrangian modeling approach to quantify this offshore transport and investigate its timescales, reach and contribution to the fueling of productivity in the offshore regions. In our Lagrangian model, we release nearly 10 million particles off the northwestern African coast and then track all those that enter the nearshore region and upwell along the coast between 14 and 35 ∘ N. We then follow them as they are transported offshore, also tracking the biogeochemical transformations, permitting us to construct biogeochemical budgets along the offshore moving particles. The three-dimensional velocity field as well as the biogeochemical tracers and fluxes are taken from an eddy-resolving configuration of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Our Lagrangian model analysis reveals a very intense offshore transport of nitrogen, with about 20 %–40 % in the form of organic nitrogen. The transport varies greatly along the coast. Even though the central CanCS (21–28 ∘ N) transports the largest amount of water offshore, its offshore transport of nitrogen is somewhat smaller than that in the southern CanCS (14–21 ∘ N), primarily because of the higher nitrogen content of the upwelling waters there. Around one-third of the total offshore transport of water occurs around major capes along the CanCS. The persistent filaments associated with these capes are responsible for an up to 4-fold enhancement of the offshore transport of water and nitrogen in the first 400 km. Much of this water and nitrogen stems from upwelling at quite some distance from the capes, confirming the capes' role in collecting water from along the coast. North of Cape Blanc and within the first 500 km from the coast, water recirculation is a ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
D. Hailegeorgis Z. Lachkar C. Rieper N. Gruber |
author_facet |
D. Hailegeorgis Z. Lachkar C. Rieper N. Gruber |
author_sort |
D. Hailegeorgis |
title |
A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
title_short |
A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
title_full |
A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Lagrangian study of the contribution of the Canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open North Atlantic |
title_sort |
lagrangian study of the contribution of the canary coastal upwelling to the nitrogen budget of the open north atlantic |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 https://doaj.org/article/68f28f591a8e44d0a79bfeb67ee68a59 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 18, Pp 303-325 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/303/2021/bg-18-303-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/68f28f591a8e44d0a79bfeb67ee68a59 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-303-2021 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
303 |
op_container_end_page |
325 |
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1766130761363095552 |