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Plankton blooms in vortices: the role of biological and hydrodynamic timescales
1Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
2Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos-IFISC (CSIC – Universitat de les Illes Balears), 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Abstract. We study the interplay of hydrodynamic mesoscale structures and the growth of plankton in the wake of an island, and its interaction with a coastal upwelling. Our focus is on a mechanism for the emergence of localized plankton blooms in vortices. Using a coupled system of a kinematic flow mimicking the mesoscale structures behind the island and a simple three component model for the marine ecosystem, we show that the long residence times of nutrients and plankton in the vicinity of the island and the confinement of plankton within vortices are key factors for the appearance of localized plankton blooms.
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Citation: Sandulescu, M., López, C., Hernández-García, E., and Feudel, U.: Plankton blooms in vortices: the role of biological and hydrodynamic timescales, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 14, 443-454, 2007. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
