Biogeochemical properties of eddies in the California Current System

The California Current System (CCS) has intense mesoscale activity that modulates and exports biological production from the coastal upwelling system. To characterize and quantify the ability of mesoscale eddies to affect the local and regional planktonic ecosystem of the CCS, we analyzed a 10 year-long physical-biological model simulation, using eddy detection and tracking to isolate the dynamics of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. As they propagate westward across the shelf, cyclonic eddies efficiently transport coastal planktonic organisms and maintain locally elevated production for up to 1 year (800 km offshore). Anticyclonic eddies, on the other hand, have a limited impact on local production over their ~6 month lifetime as they propagate 400 km offshore. At any given time ~8% of the model domain was covered by eddy cores. Though the eddies cover a small area, they explain ~50 and 20% of the transport of nitrate and plankton, respectively

Biogeochemical properties of eddies in the California Current System

The California Current System (CCS) has intense mesoscale activity that modulates and exports biological production from the coastal upwelling system. To characterize and quantify the ability of mesoscale eddies to affect the local and regional planktonic ecosystem of the CCS, we analyzed a 10 year-long physical-biological model simulation, using eddy detection and tracking to isolate the dynamics of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. As they propagate westward across the shelf, cyclonic eddies efficiently transport coastal planktonic organisms and maintain locally elevated production for up to 1 year (800 km offshore). Anticyclonic eddies, on the other hand, have a limited impact on local production over their ~6 month lifetime as they propagate 400 km offshore. At any given time ~8% of the model domain was covered by eddy cores. Though the eddies cover a small area, they explain ~50 and 20% of the transport of nitrate and plankton, respectively

Cross-shore transport variability in the California Current: Ekman upwelling vs. eddy dynamics

The low-frequency dynamics of coastal upwelling and cross-shelf transport in the Central and Southern California Current System (CCS) are investigated using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) over the period 1965-2008. An ensemble of passive tracers released in the numerical model is used to characterize the effects of linear (Ekman upwelling) and non-linear (mesoscale eddies) circulation dynamics on the statistics of advection of coastal waters. The statistics of passive tracers released in the subsurface show that the low-frequency variability of coastal upwelling and cross-shelf transport of the upwelled water mass are strongly correlated with the alongshore wind stress, and are coherent between the central and southern CCS. However, the offshore transport of tracers released at the surface is not coherent between the two regions, and is modulated by intrinsic mesoscale eddy activity, in particular cyclonic eddies. The transport of cyclonic eddies extends with depth and entrains water masses of southern origin, advected by the poleward California Undercurrent (CUC). The CUC water masses are not only entrained by eddies but also constitute a source for the central California upwelling system. The interplay between intrinsic (eddy activity) and deterministic (Ekman upwelling) dynamics in controlling the cross-shelf exchanges in the CCS may provide an improved framework to understand and interpret nutrients and ecosystem variability. © 2012