Consequences of natural upwelling in oligotrophic marine ecosystems
One of the major environmental consequences of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plans may be the artificial upwelling of nutrients to the surface waters of oligotrophic ecosystems. Within a 10 km/sup 2/ area, OTEC plants of 1000 MWe total capacity could upwell the same amount of nutrients as occurs naturally off Peru each day. The biological response to possible eutrophication by OTEC plants may not be similar to that within coastal upwelling ecosystems, however. Upwelling in offshore oceanic systems does not lead to increased primary production despite high nutrient content of the euphotic zone. Continuous grazing may not allow phytoplankton blooms to develop in oceanic upwelling systems to the proposed OTEC sites. At present this is a hypothesis to be tested before full evaluation of OTEC induced upwelling can be made.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-02-0016
- OSTI ID:
- 5496493
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-27710; CONF-800334-12
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
140800* -- Solar Energy-- Ocean Energy Systems
520302 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Aquatic Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CONVERSION
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY CONVERSION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUTRIENTS
OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYTOPLANKTON
PLANKTON
SEAS
SEAWATER
SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
SURFACE WATERS
UPWELLING
WATER