IARC seminar

Submitted by Kimberly Hayes
Phone: 907-474-7176
09/20/05

äóìEddy-Induced Cross-Slope Exchange and High Primary Productivity along the Bering Sea Shelf Breakäó?

Dr. Kohei Mizobata
Graduate School of Fisheries
Hokkaido University, Japan

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

IARC, Conference Room #401
3:30 p.m.

ABSTRACT

The Bering Sea shelf break area is one of the highest productive areas over the world. In this area, Bering Sea eddies are thought to be important for maintaining high productivity. Vertical nutrients supply by eddies, however, can not explain summer productivity because this area is high-nutrient, low chlorophyll region. This study investigates the impact of mesoscale eddy on primary productivity along the Bering Sea shelf break, using satellite datasets and a 3-D ocean general circulation model. Satellite data analysis shows that the variability of eddy kinetic energy is correlated with chl-/a/ concentration during summer. Numerical simulations revealed that 1) there is an increase in nitrate-nitrite on-shelf flux from the basin to the shelf break front under isopycnals, and 2) high chl-/a/ waters in the shelf are advected to the deep basin area at the surface due to eddy transport and its propagation. These indicate that mesoscale eddies sustain primary productivity at the shelf break and eddies expand high chl-/a/ area to the basin maintaining summer high productivity at the Bering Sea shelf break