The effect of vertical advection and diffusion on nutrient supply to the euphotic zone: a model study of the Iceland-Faeroes Front
Abstract
This paper examines the effect of vertical advection and vertical diffusion on the supply of nutrients to the euphotic zone. This is done using a high resolution coupled biological-physical model, that has previously been used to reproduce in situ and satellite observations of physical and biological variability at the Iceland Faeroes Front (IFF). Oligotrophic conditions are imposed in the model in order to examine the vertical flux of nutrients.The results show that, while instantaneous vertical advective fluxes of nutrients can be much larger than vertical diffusive ones, over a period of days the latter act consistently to supply nutrients to the euphotic zone. In contrast, the spatially and temporally varying nature of the vertical velocity field means that there is no consistent vertical advective flux of nutrients. This suggests that for real "messy" complex flows, such as the one modelled here, ageostrophic vertical velocities induced by eddies and frontal meanders may not play as important a role in supplying nutrient to the euphotic zone, and in enhancing biological production there, as has previously been thought.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AGUFMOS43A0635P
- Keywords:
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- 4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes;
- 4528 Fronts and jets;
- 4805 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling (0412;
- 0414;
- 0793;
- 1615;
- 4815 Ecosystems;
- structure;
- dynamics;
- and modeling (0439)