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Role of mesoscale eddies on the variability of biogenic flux in the northern and central Bay of Bengal

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Role of mesoscale eddies on the variability of biogenic flux in the northern and central Bay of Bengal
 
Creator Vidya, P.J.
PrasannaKumar, S.
 
Subject Current rings
Phytoplankton
Diatoms
Sea surface
 
Description Mesoscale cyclonic eddies (cold core) are though known to enhance the phytoplankton biomass in the Bay of Bengal, their contribution to the carbon export to the deep ocean are yet to be quantified. Using biogenic flux data obtained from the sediment traps, located at 17°27'N, 89°13'E (northern Bay of Bengal trap: NBBT) and 13°07'N, 84°24'E (central Bay of Bengal trap: CBBT), we explored the variability of biogenic flux in response to cyclonic eddies. Temporal variation of the biogenic flux at NBBT (1994–1998) and CBBT (1993–1996) showed four distinct peaks with no well-defined seasonal pattern. The inverse relationship between the high flux events and sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) along with the dominant periodicity of 10–15 weeks from the Chi-square analysis of SSHA confirmed the role of eddies in the observed higher biogenic fluxes. During the eddy events, enhanced opal flux suggested eddy-driven new production, while lower carbonate to opal ratio along with high organic carbon indicated large export via diatoms. Finally, we show that 42% of the total organic carbon collected at mid-depth (~1000 m) in the Bay of Bengal is contributed by eddy-driven processes via diatom bloom making it a regional sink for CO2.
 
Date 2014-01-07T12:18:20Z
2014-01-07T12:18:20Z
2013
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Geophysical Research (C: Oceans), vol.118(10); 2013; 5760–5771
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4415
 
Language en
 
Relation J_Geophys_Res_Oceans_118_5760.jpg
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright [2012] AGU. To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20423
 
Publisher American Geophysical Union