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The spatial and temporal development of the spring bloom during the JGOFS North Atlantic Bloom Experiment, 1989

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

A. R. Weeks ,
M. J. R. Fasham ,
J. Aiken ,
D. S. Harbour ,
J. F. Read  and
I. Bellan
A. R. Weeks
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO9 5NH
M. J. R. Fasham
Affiliation:
James Rennell Centre for Ocean Circulation, Chilworth Research Centre, Southampton, SOI 7NS
J. Aiken
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH
D. S. Harbour
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH
J. F. Read
Affiliation:
institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey, GU8 5UB
I. Bellan
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO9 5NH
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Extract

The south to north development of the spring bloom in the North Atlantic Ocean was observed during four cruises from April to August 1989. Transects with towed undulating instrumentation packages and CTD profiles on station were made between 42°N and 54°N, along 17°W and 20°W in April and between 47°N and 60°N along 20°N in May, June and July/August, giving vertical sections of temperature and chlorophyll concentration derived from in vivo fluorescence. These sections show the relationship between the onset of seasonal stratification and the initiation of the spring bloom. Supporting data from microscopic analysis of the major phytoplankton species show that the seasonal succession commenced with diatoms, followed in turn by coccolithophores, flagellates and dinoflagellates. During the development of summer stratification the mesoscale distribution of chlorophyll was strongly determined by the depth of the mixed layer, but once stratification had been firmly established higher chlorophyll values tended to be found within the warmer eddies (meanders). One possible explanation of this result is that phytoplankton growth is higher in the warmer eddies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , May 1993 , pp. 253 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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