Seasonal and interannual pigment concentration in the canary islands region from CZCS data and comparison with observations from the ESTOC

Abstract

We have compared historical data from the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) with recent in situ measurements at the European Station for Time-Series in the Ocean, Canary Islands (ESTOC). CZCS data show an annual winter phytoplankton maximum in January but with a large interannual variation. In sediment traps moored at ESTOC we observed winter sedimentation peaks at 1000m and 3000m depth occurring about 1 month later. We also observed sedimentation peaks in other seasons which probably result from material advecting into the region. CZCS data suggest that one possible source is the Cape Ghir upwelling filament off the north-west African coast.