Eddy‐Driven Transport of Particulate Organic Carbon‐Rich Coastal Water Off the West Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

The Southern Ocean plays a disproportionally large role in the global carbon cycle (McNeil et al., 2007; Metzl et al., 1999; Takahashi et al., 2002). The Southern Ocean is also unique because it encircles the globe, providing a pathway for exchange of water, carbon, and other properties between the different ocean basins. Efforts to quantify particulate organic carbon (POC) distribution on large scales are often hampered by the sparseness of in situ data, both at spatial and at temporal scales. Studies have shown that POC concentration is often well correlated with band ratios of spectral remote-sensing reflectance (e.g., Stramski et al., 1999).

Lateral Advection of Particulate Organic Matter in the Eastern Indian Ocean

“…A spiral formation of enhanced POC concentrations during this period suggests an eddy trapping in nutrient‐rich waters that can sustain higher biomass (Figure 11g). Eddies forming in coastal areas can trap nutrients and transport nutrients and biomass from coastal waters to offshore regions (Amos et al., 2019; Castelao et al., 2021; Nagai et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2018). The productivity of the coastal waters around the Argo Basin during winter may be due to monsoonal activities, with additional contributions from the ITF, which brings in thermocline waters with high nitrate when it passes through the Timor route that can subsequently be upwelled in coastal regions (Ayers et al., 2014).…”