Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System. Chenillat, F., Franks, P. J., Rivière, P., Capet, X., Grima, N., & Blanke, B. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 120(8):5566--5588, 2015.
Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the Southern California Current System [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
The California Current System is an eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS) with high biological production along the coast. Oligotrophic offshore waters create cross-shore gradients of biological and physical properties, which are affected by intense mesoscale eddy activity. The influence of eddies on ecosystem dynamics in EBUSs is still in debate. To elucidate the mechanisms that influence the dynamics of ecosystems trapped in eddies, and the relative contribution of horizontal and vertical advection in determining local production, we analyze a particular cyclonic eddy using Lagrangian particle-tracking analyses of numerical Eulerian. The eddy formed in a coastal upwelling system; coastal waters trapped in the eddy enabled it to leave the upwelling region with high concentrations of plankton and nutrients. The ecosystem was initially driven mainly by recycling of biological material. As the eddy moved offshore, production in its core was enhanced compared to eddy exterior waters through Ekman pumping of nitrate from below the euphotic zone; this Ekman pumping was particularly effective due to the shallow nitracline in the eddy compared to eddy exterior waters. Both eddy trapping and Ekman pumping helped to isolate and maintain the ecosystem productivity in the eddy core. This study shows the importance of cyclonic eddies for biological production in EBUS: they contribute both to the redistribution of the coastal upwelling ecosystem and are local regions of enhanced new production. Together, these processes impact cross-shore gradients of important biological properties. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
@article{chenillat_plankton_2015,
	title = {Plankton dynamics in a cyclonic eddy in the {Southern} {California} {Current} {System}},
	volume = {120},
	issn = {2169-9291},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015JC010826/abstract},
	doi = {10.1002/2015JC010826},
	abstract = {The California Current System is an eastern boundary upwelling system (EBUS) with high biological production along the coast. Oligotrophic offshore waters create cross-shore gradients of biological and physical properties, which are affected by intense mesoscale eddy activity. The influence of eddies on ecosystem dynamics in EBUSs is still in debate. To elucidate the mechanisms that influence the dynamics of ecosystems trapped in eddies, and the relative contribution of horizontal and vertical advection in determining local production, we analyze a particular cyclonic eddy using Lagrangian particle-tracking analyses of numerical Eulerian. The eddy formed in a coastal upwelling system; coastal waters trapped in the eddy enabled it to leave the upwelling region with high concentrations of plankton and nutrients. The ecosystem was initially driven mainly by recycling of biological material. As the eddy moved offshore, production in its core was enhanced compared to eddy exterior waters through Ekman pumping of nitrate from below the euphotic zone; this Ekman pumping was particularly effective due to the shallow nitracline in the eddy compared to eddy exterior waters. Both eddy trapping and Ekman pumping helped to isolate and maintain the ecosystem productivity in the eddy core. This study shows the importance of cyclonic eddies for biological production in EBUS: they contribute both to the redistribution of the coastal upwelling ecosystem and are local regions of enhanced new production. Together, these processes impact cross-shore gradients of important biological properties. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.},
	language = {en},
	number = {8},
	urldate = {2015-07-24TZ},
	journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans},
	author = {Chenillat, Fanny and Franks, Peter J.S. and Rivière, Pascal and Capet, Xavier and Grima, Nicolas and Blanke, Bruno},
	year = {2015},
	keywords = {4273 Physical and biogeochemical interactions, 4279 Upwelling and convergences, 4516 Eastern boundary currents, 4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes, 4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling, ACL, California upwelling system, E3, Lagrangian trajectories, Nutrient advection, mesoscale eddies, numerical modeling, physical and biogeochemical interactions},
	pages = {5566--5588}
}

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