Record Details

Response of the equatorial Pacific to chlorophyll pigment in a mixed layer isopycnal ocean general circulation model

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Response of the equatorial Pacific to chlorophyll pigment in a mixed layer isopycnal ocean general circulation model
 
Creator Nakamoto, S.
PrasannaKumar, S.
Oberhuber, J.M.
Ishizaka, J.
Muneyama, K.
Frouin, R.
 
Subject chlorophylls
phytoplankton
thermodynamics
upper ocean
isopycnics
ocean circulation
models
 
Description The influence of phytoplankton on the upper ocean dynamics and thermodynamics in the equatorial Pacific is investigated using an isopycnal ocean general circulation model (OPYC) coupled with a mixed layer model and remotely sensed chlorophyll pigment concentration from the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS). In the equatorial Pacific heat accumulation due to a higher abundance of chlorophyll pigments in the equatorial Pacific leads to a decrease of the mixed layer thickness. This generates anomalous westward geostrophic currents north and south of the equator. In the western equatorial Pacific, these anomalous geostrophic currents merge into and strengthen the equatorial undercurrent (EUC), supplying water mass from the 200-m depth to the eastern equatorial Pacific. This chlorophyll-induced response of the undercurrent enhances upwelling around 110W, resulting in a lower sea surface temperature (SST) than without chlorophyll. Thus, thermal gradients due to absorption of solar radiation by phytoplankton may contribute remotely to equatorial upwelling in the eastern Pacific
 
Date 2009-01-07T10:44:34Z
2009-01-07T10:44:34Z
2001
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Geophysical Research Letters, Vol.28; 2021-2024p.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1571
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [2001]. All efforts have been made to respect the copyright to the best of our knowledge. Inadvertent omissions, if brought to our notice, stand for correction and withdrawal of document from this repository.
 
Publisher American Geophysical Union