California Coastal Upwelling Onset Variability: Cross-Shore and Bottom-Up Propagation in the Planktonic Ecosystem

Chenillat, Fanny; Rivière, Pascal; Capet, Xavier; Franks, Peter J. S.; Blanke, Bruno

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062281

Cited by 27 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The model phytoplankton biomass (total of PS and PL , in mmol N m −3 ) has been converted to Chl ‐a using the same methodology as in Chenillat et al . [], based on the Chl ‐a to carbon conversion of Cloern et al . [].…”

Section: Model Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Biological initial conditions and boundary conditions were based on OFES (Ocean general circulation model For the Earth Simulator [ Masumoto et al ., ; Sasaki et al ., , ]) as in Chenillat et al . [].…”

Section: Numerical Models and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This high‐resolution coupled model produces lower coastal primary production compared to the coarser‐resolution configuration [ Chenillat et al ., ]. This lower production is a direct consequence of increasing the resolution which creates (i) higher local vertical velocities combined with reduced average vertical velocities in most areas, and (ii) increased offshore mesoscale export from the coast [ Lathuilière et al ., ; Gruber et al ., ].…”

Section: Model Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System

et al. 2015

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The California Current System is an eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS) with high biological production along the coast. Oligotrophic offshore waters create cross‐shore gradients of biological and physical properties, which are affected by intense mesoscale eddy activity. The influence of eddies on ecosystem dynamics in EBUS is still in debate. To elucidate the mechanisms that influence the dynamics of ecosystems trapped in eddies, and the relative contribution of horizontal and vertical advection in determining local production, we analyze a particular cyclonic eddy using Lagrangian particle‐tracking analyses of numerical Eulerian. The eddy formed in a coastal upwelling system; coastal waters trapped in the eddy enabled it to leave the upwelling region with high concentrations of plankton and nutrients. The ecosystem was initially driven mainly by recycling of biological material. As the eddy moved offshore, production in its core was enhanced compared to eddy exterior waters through Ekman pumping of nitrate from below the euphotic zone; this Ekman pumping was particularly effective due to the shallow nitracline in the eddy compared to eddy exterior waters. Both eddy trapping and Ekman pumping helped to isolate and maintain the ecosystem productivity in the eddy core. This study shows the importance of cyclonic eddies for biological production in EBUS: they contribute both to the redistribution of the coastal upwelling ecosystem and are local regions of enhanced new production. Together, these processes impact cross‐shore gradients of important biological properties.

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Section: Model Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Numerical Models and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System

et al. 2015

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“…Seasonal and interannual variability in upwelling due to shifting wind patterns influences plankton and fish populations of the California Current Ecosystem (Rykaczewski and Checkley 2008;Chenillat et al 2013). Understanding the variability in coastal SSH, which is intrinsically linked to coastal upwelling, may bring new insight on the processes leading to observed fluctuations in nutrient supply and biological productivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind-Driven Sea Level Variability on the California Coast: An Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis

Verdy

Mazloff

Cornuelle

et al. 2014

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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Effects of atmospheric forcing on coastal sea surface height near Port San Luis, central California, are investigated using a regional state estimate and its adjoint. The physical pathways for the propagation of nonlocal [O(100 km)] wind stress effects are identified through adjoint sensitivity analyses, with a cost function that is localized in space so that the adjoint shows details of the propagation of sensitivities. Transfer functions between wind stress and SSH response are calculated and compared to previous work. It is found that (i) the response to local alongshore wind stress dominates on short time scales of O(1 day); (ii) the effect of nonlocal winds dominates on longer time scales and is carried by coastally trapped waves, as well as inertiagravity waves for offshore wind stress; and (iii) there are significant seasonal variations in the sensitivity of SSH to wind stress due to changes in stratification. In a more stratified ocean, the damping of sensitivities to local and offshore winds is reduced, allowing for a larger and longer-lasting SSH response to wind stress.

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“…Eulerian model analyses usually focus on biological budgets within selected geographical boxes (e.g., Chai et al, 2002;Gruber et al, 2011;Chenillat et al, 2013). Within these stationary boxes, the biological concentration C and its spatial gradients move with the flow.…”

Section: Modeling Biological-physical Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying tracer dynamics in moving fluids: a combined Eulerian-Lagrangian approach

Chenillat

Blanke

Grima

et al. 2015

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Eulerian models coupling physics and biology provide a powerful tool for the study of marine systems, complementing and synthesizing in situ observations and in vitro experiments. With the monotonic improvements in computing resources, models can now resolve increasingly complex biophysical interactions. Quantifying complex mechanisms of interaction produces massive amounts of numerical data that often require specialized tools for analysis. Here we present an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach to analyzing tracer dynamics in moving fluids. As an example of its utility, we apply this tool to quantifying plankton dynamics in oceanic mesoscale coherent structures. In contrast to Eulerian frameworks, Lagrangian approaches are particularly useful for revealing physical pathways, and the dynamics and distributions of tracers along these trajectories. Using a well-referenced Lagrangian tool, we develop a method to assess the variability of biogeochemical properties (computed using an Eulerian model) along particle trajectories. We discuss the limitations of this new method, given the different biogeochemical and physical timescales at work in the Eulerian framework. We also use Lagrangian trajectories to track coherent structures such as eddies, and we analyze the dynamics of the local ecosystem using two techniques: (i) estimating biogeochemical properties along trajectories, and (ii) averaging biogeochemical properties over dynamic regions (e.g., the eddy core) defined by ensembles of similar trajectories. This hybrid approach, combining Eulerian and Lagrangian model analyses, enhances the quantification and understanding of the complex planktonic ecosystem responses to environmental forcings; it can be easily applied to the dynamics of any tracer in a moving fluid.

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California Coastal Upwelling Onset Variability: Cross-Shore and Bottom-Up Propagation in the Planktonic Ecosystem

Cited by 27 publications

References 51 publications

Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System

Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System

Wind-Driven Sea Level Variability on the California Coast: An Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis

Quantifying tracer dynamics in moving fluids: a combined Eulerian-Lagrangian approach

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