Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
DOI
10.1029/2020GL091943
Publication Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
48
Issue
11
Pages
e2020GL091943 (1-10)
Abstract
Abstract Climatic changes have decreased the stability of the Gulf Stream (GS), increasing the frequency at which its meanders interact with the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) continental shelf and slope region. These intrusions are thought to suppress biological productivity by transporting low-nutrient water to the otherwise productive shelf edge region. Here we present evidence of widespread, anomalously intense subsurface diatom hotspots in the MAB slope sea that likely resulted from a GS intrusion in July 2019. The hotspots (at ∼50 m) were associated with water mass properties characteristic of GS water (∼100 m); it is probable that the hotspots resulted from the upwelling of GS water during its transport into the slope sea, likely by a GS meander directly intruding onto the continental slope east of where the hotspots were observed. Further work is required to unravel how increasingly frequent direct GS intrusions could influence MAB marine ecosystems.
Rights
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. © 2021 American Geophysical Union.
Oliver, H., Zhang, W. G., Smith Jr., W. O., Alatalo, P., Chappell, P. D., Hirzel, A. J., Selden, C. R., Sosik, H. M., Stanley, R. H. R., Zhu, Y., & McGillicuddy Jr., D. J. (2021) Diatom hotspots driven by western boundary current instability. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, 11, Article e2020GL091943.
To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091943.
Data Availability
Article states: "All CTD, VPR, and bottle fields are archived at the SPIROPA project page at the Biological & Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) with DOIs 10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.807119.2, 10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.848898.1, and 10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.849340.1. SPIROPA IFCB images are available at https://ifcb-data.whoi.edu/timeline?dataset=SPIROPA. Amplicon sequence variants read counts are included in Data-set S1."
Original Publication Citation
Oliver, H., Zhang, W. G., Smith Jr., W. O., ... Stanley, R. H. R., Zhu, Y., & McGillicuddy Jr., D. J. (2021). Diatom hotspots driven by western boundary current instability. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(11), 1-10, Article e2020GL091943. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091943
Repository Citation
Oliver, Hilde; Zhang, Weifeng G.; Smith, Walker O. Jr.; Alatalo, Philip; Chappell, P. Dreux; Hirzel, Andrew J.; Selden, Corday R.; Sosik, Heidi M.; Stanley, Rachel H.R.; Zhu, Yifan; and McGillicuddy, Dennis J. Jr., "Diatom Hotspots Driven by Western Boundary Current Instability" (2021). OES Faculty Publications. 419.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/419
ORCID
0000-0001-5212-6228 (Chappell), 0000-0002-5721-3061 (Selden), 0000-0002-8035-7338 (Zhu)
Comments
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. © 2021 American Geophysical Union.
Oliver, H., Zhang, W. G., Smith Jr., W. O., Alatalo, P., Chappell, P. D., Hirzel, A. J., Selden, C. R., Sosik, H. M., Stanley, R. H. R., Zhu, Y., & McGillicuddy Jr., D. J. (2021) Diatom hotspots driven by western boundary current instability. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, 11, Article e2020GL091943.
To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091943.