Turbulence avoidance and the wind-driven transport of plankton in the surface Ekman layer

Observations of turbulence avoidance in zooplankton are compared to estimates of the wind-driven turbulence in the upper ocean. Plankton that avoid wind-driven turbulence by moving deeper are no longer transported by the wind-driven Ekman currents near the surface because they are no longer near the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Continental Shelf Research
Main Author: Pringle, James M.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository 2007
Subjects:
zooplankton
turbulence
coastal upwelling
Gulf of Maine
SMALL-SCALE TURBULENCE
CROSS-SHELF CIRCULATION
VERTICAL-DISTRIBUTION
CALANUS-FINMARCHICUS
BOUNDARY-LAYER
SCOTIAN SHELF
CONTACT RATES
GEORGES-BANK
UPPER OCEAN
LARVAL COD
Oceanography
Earth Sciences
Calanus finmarchicus
Online Access:https://scholars.unh.edu/earthsci_facpub/17
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2006.11.011
Description
Summary:Observations of turbulence avoidance in zooplankton are compared to estimates of the wind-driven turbulence in the upper ocean. Plankton that avoid wind-driven turbulence by moving deeper are no longer transported by the wind-driven Ekman currents near the surface because they are no longer near the surface. Here, a threshold level of turbulence that triggers an avoidance response is estimated, and is used to infer the wind speed and water column stratification conditions that would lead to zooplankton leaving the Ekman layer. Turbulence avoidance is argued to lead to near-shore retention in wind-driven upwelling systems, and to a reduction of the delivery of zooplankton to Georges Bank from the deeper waters of the Gulf of Maine. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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