Structure of phytoplankton (Continuous Plankton Recorder and SeaWiFS) and impact of climate in the Northwest Atlantic Shelves

[摘要] All marine organisms are affected to some extent by the movement and thermalproperties of oceanic currents. However phytoplankton, because of its smallsize is most directly coupled to the physical environment. The intensehydrodynamic activity observed in the Northwest Atlantic Shelves Provincemakes this region especially intriguing from the point of view ofphysical-biological interactions. In the present work, remote sensed data ofSea Surface Height (SSH) anomalies, Sea-surface chlorophyll a concentrations(SeaWiFS), and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) are used to complement theContinuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey that continuously sampled a routebetween Norfolk (Virginia, USA; 39° N, 71° W) and Argentia(Newfoundland; 47° N, 54° W) over the period 1995–1998. Over thisperiod, we examined physical structures (i.e. SST and SSH) and climaticforcing associated with space-time phytoplankton structure. Along thisroute, the phytoplankton structures were mainly impacted by the changes insurface flow along the Scotian Shelf rather than significantly influenced bythe mesoscale features of the Gulf Stream. These changes in water masscirculation caused a drop in temperature and salinity along the ScotianShelf that induced changes in phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance.

[学科分类] 海洋学与技术