Seasonal response of zooplankton to monsoonal reversals in the Arabian Sea

The US JGOFS Arabian Sea Process Study was designed to provide a seasonally and spatially resolved carbon budget for a basin exhibiting some of the highest and lowest concentrations of plant biomass in the world’s ocean. During the US JGOFS Process Study in the Arabian Sea (September 1994–January 1996), the absolute maximum in biomass of epipelagic zooplankton in the entire study was observed during the Southwest Monsoon season inshore of the Findlater Jet in the area of upwelling. The greatest contrast between high and low biomass in the study area also was observed during the Southwest Monsoon, as was the strongest onshore–offshore gradient in biomass. Lowest biomass throughout the study was observed at the most offshore station (S15), outside the direct influence of the monsoon forcing. The greatest day/night contrasts in biomass were observed nearshore in all seasons, with nighttime biomass exceeding daytime in the Northeast Monsoon season, but daytime exceeding nighttime in the Southwest Monsoon season. The diel vertical migration patterns in general reversed between the monsoons at all stations in the southern part of the study area. Virtually, no diel vertical migration of zooplankton took place in any season at the station with strong, persistent subsurface suboxic conditions (N7), suggesting that these conditions suppress migration. Based on the distribution of biomass, we hypothesize that inshore of the Findlater Jet, zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton is the dominant pathway of carbon transformation during both monsoon seasons, whereas offshore the zooplankton feed primarily on microplankton or are carnivorous, conditions that result in reduction of the carbon flux mediated by the zooplankton. Predation by mesopelagic fish, primarily myctophids, may equal daily growth of zooplankton inshore of the Findlater Jet during all seasons. This suggests that the food web inshore of the Findlater Jet is well integrated, may have evolved during past periods of intensified upwelling, and has a distinctly annual cycle

The oxygen minimum zone in the Arabian Sea during 1995

This paper focuses on the characteristics of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) as observed in the Arabian Sea over the complete monsoon cycle of 1995. Dissolved oxygen, nitrite, nitrate and density values are used to delineate the OMZ, as well as identify regions where denitrification is observed. The suboxic conditions within the northern Arabian Sea are documented, as well as biological and chemical consequences of this phenomenon. Overall, the conditions found in the suboxic portion of the water column in the Arabian Sea were not greatly different from what has been reported in the literature with respect to oxygen, nitrate and nitrite distributions. Within the main thermocline, portions of the OMZ were found that were suboxic (oxygen less than ∼4.5μM) and contained secondary nitrite maxima with concentrations that sometimes exceeded 6.0μM, suggesting active nitrate reduction and denitrification. Although there may have been a reduction in the degree of suboxia during the Southwest monsoon, a dramatic seasonality was not observed, as has been suggested by some previous work. In particular, there was not much evidence for the occurrence of secondary nitrite maxima in waters with oxygen concentrations greater than 4.5μM. Waters in the northern Arabian Sea appear to accumulate larger nitrate deficits due to longer residence times even though the denitrification rate might be lower, as evident in the reduced nitrite concentrations in the northern part of the basin. Organism distributions showed string relationships to the oxygen profiles, especially in locations where the OMZ was pronounced, but the biological responses to the OMZ varied with type of organism. The regional extent of intermediate nepheloid layers in our data corresponds well with the region of the secondary nitrite maximum. This is a region of denitrification, and the presence and activities of bacteria are assumed to cause the increase in particles. ADCP acoustic backscatter measurements show diel vertical migration of plankton or nekton and movement into the OMZ. Daytime acoustic returns from depth were strong, and the dawn sinking and dusk rise of the fauna were obvious. However, at night the biomass remaining in the suboxic zone was so low that no ADCP signal was detectable at these depths. There are at least two groups of organisms, one that stays in the upper mixed layer and another that makes daily excursions. A subsurface zooplankton peak in the lower OMZ (near the lower 4.5μM oxycline) was also typically present; these animals occurred day and night and did not vertically migrate