Eddy and deep chlorophyl maximum response to wind-shear in the lee of Gran Canaria

Abstract

The physical and biological properties of the warm wake of Gran Canaria were examined during a survey carried out in June 1998. The sampling region was dominated by the presence of a warm triangular region downwind the island and an anticyclonic eddy spun off the island. Convergent and divergent frontal regions were generated by the wind shear zones extending along either side of the sheltered region of the warm wake. With increasing distance from shore, evidence of convergent/divergent frontal regions weakened, but the influence of the eddy increased. Both structures, frontal regions and the eddy, clearly altered the vertical phytoplankton biomass distribution as indicated by chlorophyll-fluorescence. Downwelling on the convergent boundary moved the 26.2 kg m−3 isopycnal and its associated deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) below the 1% light zone. Upwelling at the divergent boundary not only elevated the DCM with its associated isopycnal but also, because of the increased light levels, allowed a shift in the DCM to higher (deeper) density surfaces (26.4 kg m−3). However, the highest integrated chlorophyll occurred in the central wake.