Phytoplankton blooms associated with upwelling at Cabo Catoche

Abstract

In this work, the spatial and temporal implications of the Non-Eastern Boundary Upwelling (Non-EBUS) on the bio-productivity from coastal shallow waters have been studied. At the coast of Cabo Catoche, on the Yucatán shelf, two 12-day field campaigns (April and July) were conducted. Cross-shore CTD-fluorescence profiles, water samples, and plankton were collected each day. Nutrients, ocean temperature and currents times series from two moorings (8 and 12 m depth) were analyzed, as were temperature and chlorophyll (Chl-a) from satellite data. The water masses from the Yucatan channel reached the coast of Cabo Catoche in both study periods. The Yucatan Upwelling Water (YUW,~19.6-22.5°C) supplied the surface and subsurface water, up to 6 km offshore, with nutrients during the upwelling pulses from 2 to 5 days. Nutrients were higher in April (nitrate, ammonium < 5, 18 μmol L −1), but the phytoplankton bloom was more consistent in July (Chl-a mean, 1.45 mg m −3) showing greater distribution across the coast. The steady upwelling plume (cold water, high nutrients) recorded in Cabo Catoche and observed on the north shelf, could have been the result of dynamic uplift in the Yucatan Channel prior to the field campaign. Through the way to the shelf, the plankton increased, explaining the high temporal association between low temperatures and the phytoplankton bloom at the coast. The Non-EBUS has strong implications for the pelagic ecosystem from Cabo Catoche, enhancing productivity and triggering energy flow by the physical process. (~300 m depth), Caribbean Surface Water (< 100 m depth) and between them is the Yucatan Upwelled Water (YUW), (Merino, 1992; Carrillo et al., 2016).

Tropical Cyclone Landfall Frequency and Large-Scale Environmental Impacts along Karstic Coastal Regions (Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico)

“…We used the surface satellite-based Chl-a values as a proxy to assess potential changes in coastal aquatic primary productivity (e.g., [79][80][81]) using daily satellite observations at 4 × 4-km spatial resolution (i.e., GlobColour; [82][83][84]) and level-4 processing provided by the European Space Agency [85]. These products are recommended for studies of small-scale and high-frequency phenomena in coastal areas [86].…”

“…This interaction among those factors is illustrated by the increase in Chl-a >0.5 mg/m 3 on the northeastern tip of the YP (i.e., Cabo Catoche; Figure 10B) following the passage of both Wilma (~10 mg/m 3 ) and Dean (~4 mg/m 3 ). Indeed, this coastal region is identified as both a major groundwater recharge area [37] and a seasonal upwelling region where phytoplankton blooms (mean Chl-a 1.45 mg/m 3 ; [79][80][81]) are fueled by Ekman-layer transport and slope water intrusion from the Yucatan channel.…”

“…How this increase in Chl-a caused by pulsing TCs will impact secondary production (e.g., fisheries) in the long term along the YP coastal regions is unknown [136]. In addition to an increase in Chl-a induced by both submarine discharge and upwelling in the Yucatan continental shelf [79,81], surface run-off can also modify phytoplankton community structure and diversity [129]. Previous studies in phytoplankton community variations along the northern YP coastline show that subterranean water discharge interacting with coastal waters' water quality and salinity play a key role in relative differences in dominance, for example, of thick-valve pennate diatoms and dinoflagellates among sites [122].…”

On the advection of upwelled water on the western Yucatan Shelf

“…To the north, the Lazo current with its mesoscale eddies are located, and to the west is the Bay of Campeche, identified as a deep-sea area with a semi-permanent cyclonic eddy. The exchange of properties between the adjacent ocean and the shelf is limited due to the shallowness of the region, however, some very important and known interchanging processes occurring on the northern coast of this bank are the upwelling events ((Ruiz-Renteria, 1979), (Furnas and Smayda, 1987), (Reyes-Mendoza et al, 2019)).…”

Maximum entropy model: Estimating the relative suitability of cetacean habitat in the northern Savu Sea, Indonesia

“…Depth as a static oceanographic feature has been found as the main oceanographic feature with a strong association to cetacean habitat preference, where each species is linked to a specific depth that reflects their preference (e.g., behavior, physiological limitation, dietary preference; Cañadas, Sagarminaga, & Garcıa‐Tiscar, 2002; Yen et al, 2004). Physiographically related static features, such as slope (Cañadas et al, 2002; Panigada et al, 2008), play an indirect role in cetacean distribution through oceanographic mechanisms by facilitating upwelling (which elevate chlorophyll‐ a concentration), which can promote primary production and favor cetaceans' prey availability (Reyes‐Mendoza, Herrera‐Silveira, Mariño‐Tapia, Enriquez, & Largier, 2019). Chlorophyll‐ a , in contrast, is a dynamic oceanographic feature playing an indirect role for oceanic cetaceans.…”