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Science 18 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5827, pp. 1021 - 1026
DOI: 10.1126/science.1136256
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Reports

Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms

Dennis J. McGillicuddy, Jr.,1* Laurence A. Anderson,1 Nicholas R. Bates,2 Thomas Bibby,3,4 Ken O. Buesseler,1 Craig A. Carlson,5 Cabell S. Davis,1 Courtney Ewart,5 Paul G. Falkowski,3 Sarah A. Goldthwait,6,7 Dennis A. Hansell,8 William J. Jenkins,1 Rodney Johnson,2 Valery K. Kosnyrev,1 James R. Ledwell,1 Qian P. Li,8 David A. Siegel,5 Deborah K. Steinberg6

Episodic eddy-driven upwelling may supply a significant fraction of the nutrients required to sustain primary productivity of the subtropical ocean. New observations in the northwest Atlantic reveal that, although plankton blooms occur in both cyclones and mode-water eddies, the biological responses differ. Mode-water eddies can generate extraordinary diatom biomass and primary production at depth, relative to the time series near Bermuda. These blooms are sustained by eddy/wind interactions, which amplify the eddy-induced upwelling. In contrast, eddy/wind interactions dampen eddy-induced upwelling in cyclones. Carbon export inferred from oxygen anomalies in eddy cores is one to three times as much as annual new production for the region.

1 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543–1541, USA.
2 Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, Ferry Reach, GE01, Bermuda.
3 Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901–8521, USA.
4 School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
5 University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
6 Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA 23062–1346, USA.
7 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
8 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dmcgillicuddy{at}whoi.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Comment on "Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms".
A. Mahadevan, L. N. Thomas, and A. Tandon (2008)
Science 320, 448b
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms".
D. J. McGillicuddy Jr., J. R. Ledwell, and L. A. Anderson (2008)
Science 320, 448c
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)