Effects of cyclonic mesoscale eddies on the marine ecosystem in the Kuroshio Extension region using an eddy-resolving coupled physical-biological model |
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| Authors: | Yoshikazu Sasai Kelvin J Richards Akio Ishida Hideharu Sasaki |
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| Institution: | (1) Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25, Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan;(2) International Pacific Research Center, SOEST, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96822, USA;(3) Earth Simulator Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Effects of mesoscale eddies on the marine ecosystem in the Kuroshio Extension (KE) region are investigated using an eddy-resolving
coupled physical-biological model. The model captures the seasonal and intra-seasonal variability of chlorophyll distribution
associated with the mesoscale eddies, front variability, Kuroshio meanders, and upwelling. The model also reproduces the observed
interannual variability of sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) in the KE region along a zonal band of 32–34°N from 2002 to 2006.
The distribution of high surface chlorophyll corresponds to low SSHA. Cyclonic eddies are found to detach from the KE jet
near 150°E and 158°E and propagate westward. The westward propagating cyclonic eddies lift the nutrient-rich thermocline into
the euphotic zone and maintain high levels of chlorophyll in summer. In the subsurface layer, the pattern in chlorophyll is
influenced by both lateral and vertical advection. In winter, convection inside the eddy entrains high levels of nutrients
into the mixed layer, increasing production, and resulting in high chlorophyll concentration throughout the surface mixed
layer. There is significant interannual variability in both the cyclonic eddy activity and the surface phytoplankton bloom
south of the KE jet, although whether or not there is a causal link is unclear. |
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