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Role of Gulf Stream frontal eddies in forming phytoplankton patches on the outer southeastern shelf

Journal Article · · Limnol. Oceanogr.; (United States)
 [1]; ; ; ;
  1. Skidaway Inst. of Oceanography, Savannah, GA
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Continuous surface mapping of temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll along a 300-km segment of the Gulf Stream cyclonic front defined the spatial scales of a large diatom patch that persisted throughout a 10-day study. The patch was localized in the upwelled cold core of a Gulf Stream frontal eddy centered over the 200-m isobath off Jacksonville, Florida, in April 1979. The 2 ..mu..g.liter/sup -1/ surface chlorophyll isopleth enclosed in area >1,000 km/sup 2/ with an alongshore dimension of 130 km. Surface chlorophyll exceeded 5 ..mu..g.liter/sup -1/ within the upwelled cold core of the eddy, 10-100x higher than concentrations in Gulf Stream or resident shelf surface water. Diatoms dominated the patch with the maximum observed abundance >10/sup 6/ cells.liter/sup -1/. Several days after the initial shipboard mapping, the size, location, and strong chlorophyll gradients of the patch were confirmed with a surface chlorophyll image generated from an ocean color scanner (OCS) flown aboard a NASA U-2 aircraft. We show that the upwelling associated with eddies forming along the Gulf Stream cyclonic front results in localized zones of high near-surface production and plant biomass that lie adjacent to oligotrophic surface waters of the Gulf Stream.

OSTI ID:
5626528
Journal Information:
Limnol. Oceanogr.; (United States), Journal Name: Limnol. Oceanogr.; (United States) Vol. 26:6; ISSN LIOCA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

520100 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
580500* -- Oceanography-- (1980-1989)
ALGAE
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOMASS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHLOROPHYLL
CURRENTS
DIATOMS
ENERGY SOURCES
GULF STREAM
HETEROCYCLIC ACIDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
LIMNOLOGY
MAPPING
OFFSHORE SITES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYTOCHROMES
PHYTOPLANKTON
PIGMENTS
PLANKTON
PLANTS
PORPHYRINS
PRODUCTION
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SALINITY
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
UPWELLING
WATER CURRENTS