Abstract:
An eddy-resolving coupled physical–biological model is used to study the effect of cyclonic eddy in enhancing offshore chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) bloom in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean during boreal summer–fall 2006. The results demonstrate that the offshore Chl-a blooms are markedly coincident with the high eddy kinetic energy. Moreover, the vertical variations in Chl-a, nitrate, temperature, and mixed-layer depth (MLD) strongly imply that the cyclonic eddies induce surface Chl-a bloom through the injection of nutrient-rich water into the upper layer. Interestingly, we found that the surface bloom only occurs when the deep Chl-a maximum is located within the MLD. On the other hand, the response of subsurface Chl-a to the eddy pumping is remarkable, although it is hardly observable at the surface.
Keywords: Chlorophyll-a - Upwelling - Coupled physical–biological model - Indian Ocean Dipole - Southeastern tropical Indian Ocean.
Published as:
Iskandar, I., H. Sasaki, Y. Sasai, Y. Masumoto and K. Mizuno, Numerical investigation of eddy-induced chlorophyll bloom in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean during 2006, Ocean Dynamics, doi:10.1007/s10236-010-0290-6.
