On the Processes Sustaining Biological Production in the Offshore Propagating Eddies of the Northern Canary Upwelling System

Abstract

Oceanic mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous structures that constitute an extraordinary laboratory to study the connection between marine physics, biogeochemistry, and biology (Falkowski et al., 1991;Mahadevan, 2014;McGillicuddy, 2016). In spite of their relatively small size that spans from a few tens to a few hundreds of kilometers, mesoscale eddies represent an intrinsic mode of flow of the ocean (Chaigneau et al., 2009;Faghmous et al., 2015), with substantial impact on the lateral transport of momentum and material properties (Ito & Marshall, 2008;Thompson et al., 2014). Even though these structures modulate biological activity in the global ocean (McGillicuddy, 2016;NASA-OBPG, 2015), achieving a full understanding of the plethora of processes that regulate biology in mesoscale eddies has remained elusive. This is largely a consequence of the ephemeral nature and high spatio-temporal variability of these structures, and the complexity of the physics that governs them.

Quantifying the Contribution of Ocean Mesoscale Eddies to Low Oxygen Extreme Events

“…(2014) results are therefore consistent with the findings of our investigation where CEs are associated with positive AOU anomalies across EBUS regions (Figure 2). Elevated levels of production and export of organic material particularly in CEs is supported by a modeling study carried out for the Northern Canary Upwelling System (Lovecchio et al., 2022). Our findings are also consistent with Biogeochemical‐Argo float observations of eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, where positive AOU anomalies are observed in CEs, and attributed to enhanced remineralization of sinking particles (Xiu & Chai, 2020).…”

Tracking the Space‐Time Evolution of Ocean Acidification Extremes in the California Current System and Northeast Pacific

“…The persistence of these events may be associated with the trapping of the initial nutricline doming rather than permanent pumping throughout the event lifetime. Indeed, eddy‐pumping has been shown to contribute very little to the nutrient supply in cyclonic eddies (Dufois et al., 2016; Lovecchio et al., 2022). A detailed identification of the mechanism involved in the formation of each LLP OAXs would require the tracking of the cyclonic eddies and their biogeochemical state to identify what happens in the eddy prior to the OAX initiation.…”

The Influence of Agulhas Leakage on Primary Production and Nitrogen Cycling in the Southeastern Atlantic Ocean

“…Numerical models have shown that shoaling of anticyclonic eddy edges coupled with vertical mixing elevate biological productivity relative to the surrounding waters (Lima et al., 2002; Lovecchio et al., 2022; Mahadevan et al., 2008). Similarly, an increase in productivity has been directly observed for warm‐core anticyclonic rings encountered near the Subtropical Convergence south of the Agulhas Retroflection (in this case originating from the Agulhas Current rather than the Retroflection; Dower & Lucas, 1993) and associated with the Gulf Stream (e.g., Gordon et al., 1982; Nelson et al., 1985; Olson & Evans, 1986), as well as in the Bering Sea (Mizobata et al., 2002), Tasman Sea (Scott, 1981), and North China Sea (Wang et al., 2018).…”