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• 1. [Article] Surface patterns in temperature, flow, phytoplankton biomass, and species composition in the coastal transition zone of northern California

  Satellite thermal imagery and in situ biological and physical data are presented that describe the spatial variability of phytoplankton biomass and species composition in relation to the physical structure ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Surface patterns in temperature, flow, phytoplankton biomass, and species composition in the coastal transition zone of northern California Author: Abbott, Mark R., Hood, Raleigh R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951- Satellite thermal imagery and in situ biological and physical data are presented that describe the spatial variability of phytoplankton biomass and species composition in relation to the physical structure at the sea surface during persistent upwelling off northern California. Surface patterns in temperature, geostrophic velocity, chlorophyll, and particle size structure show that the coastal zone was dominated by two water masses separated by a well-defined physical boundary. This boundary is apparent in satellite thermal imagery as a cold front and in dynamic height as a meandering jet in the California Current. On the landward side of the front (jet) we observed cold, coastal water that was relatively enriched in phytoplankton biomass, due to the presence of large diatoms. On the seaward side of the front (jet) we observed relatively warm water where the phytoplankton biomass was low and the diatoms were largely absent. Broad tongues and narrow filaments of cold, chlorophyll-rich water that extended over 100 km offshore were present in our study area. These features were bounded by the meandering coastal jet. The coldest, most chlorophyll-rich water in these tongues and filaments was located between the onshore and offshore flows in relatively slow moving water, but entrainment of coastal water into the jet was apparent. Title: Surface patterns in temperature, flow, phytoplankton biomass, and species composition in the coastal transition zone of northern California Author: Abbott, Mark R., Hood, Raleigh R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951- Satellite thermal imagery and in situ biological and physical data are presented that describe the spatial variability of phytoplankton biomass and species composition in relation to the physical structure at the sea surface during persistent upwelling off northern California. Surface patterns in temperature, geostrophic velocity, chlorophyll, and particle size structure show that the coastal zone was dominated by two water masses separated by a well-defined physical boundary. This boundary is apparent in satellite thermal imagery as a cold front and in dynamic height as a meandering jet in the California Current. On the landward side of the front (jet) we observed cold, coastal water that was relatively enriched in phytoplankton biomass, due to the presence of large diatoms. On the seaward side of the front (jet) we observed relatively warm water where the phytoplankton biomass was low and the diatoms were largely absent. Broad tongues and narrow filaments of cold, chlorophyll-rich water that extended over 100 km offshore were present in our study area. These features were bounded by the meandering coastal jet. The coldest, most chlorophyll-rich water in these tongues and filaments was located between the onshore and offshore flows in relatively slow moving water, but entrainment of coastal water into the jet was apparent. Close

• 2. [Article] The structure of the transition zone between coastal waters and the open ocean off northern California, winter and spring 1987

  Physical and biological fields in the coastal transition zone off northern California were measured during February, March, May and June 1987 in an extended alongshore region between 60 km and 150 km offshore. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The structure of the transition zone between coastal waters and the open ocean off northern California, winter and spring 1987 Author: Chavez, F. P., Barber, R. T., Strub, P. Ted, Smith, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1935-, Abbott, Mark R., Cowles, Timothy J., Jessen, P., Ramp, S. R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951-, Small, Lawrence F. Physical and biological fields in the coastal transition zone off northern California were measured during February, March, May and June 1987 in an extended alongshore region between 60 km and 150 km offshore. The spring transition, as seen in coastal sea level and winds, occurred in mid-March. Surface variability during the two spring cruises was stronger and of larger scale than that seen during the two winter cruises. An equatorward-tending current, flowing along the boundary between low steric sea level inshore and high steric sea level offshore, dominated both the directly-measured (acoustic Doppler current profiler) and geostrophic current fields during spring. Current jets of comparable strength directed both offshore and onshore were seen off Cape Mendocino and Point Arena; these evolved significantly in the 3 weeks between cruises. Inshore of the current, properties associated with upwelled water were found near the surface, including low temperature and high salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll; offshore of the current, waters were warmer, less saline, lower in nutrients and more oligotrophic. Geostrophic and directly measured volume transports in the current were about 2–3 Sv. Isopycnals inshore of the spring upwelling front were displaced vertically by O(40–80 m) from their depths during the winter survey; these displacements extended deep into the water column and were largely independent of depth between 100 and 400 m. Surface mixed layers tended to be deep in winter and shallower inshore of the upwelling front in spring. A connection between the equatorward-tending frontal jet off northern California and the more well-studied California Current further south is suggested by the similarity of their transports and of their dynamic height values. Title: The structure of the transition zone between coastal waters and the open ocean off northern California, winter and spring 1987 Author: Chavez, F. P., Barber, R. T., Strub, P. Ted, Smith, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1935-, Abbott, Mark R., Cowles, Timothy J., Jessen, P., Ramp, S. R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951-, Small, Lawrence F. Physical and biological fields in the coastal transition zone off northern California were measured during February, March, May and June 1987 in an extended alongshore region between 60 km and 150 km offshore. The spring transition, as seen in coastal sea level and winds, occurred in mid-March. Surface variability during the two spring cruises was stronger and of larger scale than that seen during the two winter cruises. An equatorward-tending current, flowing along the boundary between low steric sea level inshore and high steric sea level offshore, dominated both the directly-measured (acoustic Doppler current profiler) and geostrophic current fields during spring. Current jets of comparable strength directed both offshore and onshore were seen off Cape Mendocino and Point Arena; these evolved significantly in the 3 weeks between cruises. Inshore of the current, properties associated with upwelled water were found near the surface, including low temperature and high salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll; offshore of the current, waters were warmer, less saline, lower in nutrients and more oligotrophic. Geostrophic and directly measured volume transports in the current were about 2–3 Sv. Isopycnals inshore of the spring upwelling front were displaced vertically by O(40–80 m) from their depths during the winter survey; these displacements extended deep into the water column and were largely independent of depth between 100 and 400 m. Surface mixed layers tended to be deep in winter and shallower inshore of the upwelling front in spring. A connection between the equatorward-tending frontal jet off northern California and the more well-studied California Current further south is suggested by the similarity of their transports and of their dynamic height values. Close

• 3. [Article] Statistical properties of near surface currents in the California coastal transition zone

  During the summers of 1987 and 1988, 77 near-surface satellite-tracked drifters were deployed in or near cold filaments near Point Arena, California (39ºN), and tracked for up to 6 months as part of the ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Statistical properties of near surface currents in the California coastal transition zone Author: Beardsley, R. C., Abbott, Mark R., Stanton, T., Stuart, D., Ramp, S., Brink, K. H., Niiler, Pearn P., Huyer, Adriana, 1945- During the summers of 1987 and 1988, 77 near-surface satellite-tracked drifters were deployed in or near cold filaments near Point Arena, California (39ºN), and tracked for up to 6 months as part of the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) program. The drifters had large drogues centered at 15 m, and the resulting drifter trajectory data set has been analyzed in terms of its Eulerian and Lagrangian statistics. The CTZ drifter results show that the California Current can be characterized in summer and fall as a meandering coherent jet which on average flows southward to at least 30ºN, the southern end of the study domain. From 39ºN south to about 33ºN, the typical core velocities are of O(300 km) and the current meanders have alongshore wavelengths of O(100–200 km) and onshore-offshore amplitude of O(100–200 km). The lateral movement of this jet leads to large eddy kinetic energies and large eddy diffusivities, especially north of 36ºN. The initial onshore-offshore component of diffusivity is always greater than the alongshore component in the study domain, but at the southern end, the eddy diffusivity is more isotropic, with scalar single particle diffusivity (Kxx + Kyy) of O(8 x 107 cm2 s-1). The eddy diffusivity increases with increasing eddy energy. Finally, a simple volume budget for the 1988 filament observed near 37ºN off Point Arena suggests that subduction can occur in a filament at an average rate of O(10 m d-1) some 200 km offshore, thus allowing the cold water initially in the filament core to sink below the warmer ambient water by the time the surface velocity core has turned back onshore. This process explains why satellite temperature and color imagery tend to “see” only flow proceeding offshore. Title: Statistical properties of near surface currents in the California coastal transition zone Author: Beardsley, R. C., Abbott, Mark R., Stanton, T., Stuart, D., Ramp, S., Brink, K. H., Niiler, Pearn P., Huyer, Adriana, 1945- During the summers of 1987 and 1988, 77 near-surface satellite-tracked drifters were deployed in or near cold filaments near Point Arena, California (39ºN), and tracked for up to 6 months as part of the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) program. The drifters had large drogues centered at 15 m, and the resulting drifter trajectory data set has been analyzed in terms of its Eulerian and Lagrangian statistics. The CTZ drifter results show that the California Current can be characterized in summer and fall as a meandering coherent jet which on average flows southward to at least 30ºN, the southern end of the study domain. From 39ºN south to about 33ºN, the typical core velocities are of O(300 km) and the current meanders have alongshore wavelengths of O(100–200 km) and onshore-offshore amplitude of O(100–200 km). The lateral movement of this jet leads to large eddy kinetic energies and large eddy diffusivities, especially north of 36ºN. The initial onshore-offshore component of diffusivity is always greater than the alongshore component in the study domain, but at the southern end, the eddy diffusivity is more isotropic, with scalar single particle diffusivity (Kxx + Kyy) of O(8 x 107 cm2 s-1). The eddy diffusivity increases with increasing eddy energy. Finally, a simple volume budget for the 1988 filament observed near 37ºN off Point Arena suggests that subduction can occur in a filament at an average rate of O(10 m d-1) some 200 km offshore, thus allowing the cold water initially in the filament core to sink below the warmer ambient water by the time the surface velocity core has turned back onshore. This process explains why satellite temperature and color imagery tend to “see” only flow proceeding offshore. Close

• 4. [Article] The nature of the cold filaments in the California current system

  Data from the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment are used to describe the velocity fields and water properties associate with cold filaments in the California Current. Combined with previous field ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The nature of the cold filaments in the California current system Author: Mackas, D. L., Swenson, M., Chavez, F., James, C., Batteen, M., Strub, P. Ted, Kadko, D., Abbott, Mark R., Hayward, T., Dewey, R., Ramp, S., Brink, K. H., Niiler, Pearn P., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951-, Haidvogel, D., Barber, R., Haney, R., Walstad, L., Hood, R. R., Barth, John A., Washburn, L. A. Data from the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment are used to describe the velocity fields and water properties associate with cold filaments in the California Current. Combined with previous field surveys and satellite imagery, these show seasonal variability with maximum dynamic height ranges and velocities in summer and minimum values in late winter and early spring. North of Point Arenda (between 39ºN and 42ºN) in spring–summer the flow field on the outer edge of the cold water has the character of a meandering jet, carrying fresh, nutrient-poor water from farther north on its offshore side and cold, salty, nutrient-rich water on its inshore side. At Point Arena in midsummer, the jet often flows offshore and continues south without meandering back onshore as strongly as it does farther north. The flow field south of Point Arena in summer takes on more of the character of a field of mesoscale eddies, although the meandering jet from the north continues to be identifiable. The conceptual model for the May–July period between 36ºN and 42ºN is thus of a surface jet that meanders through and interacts with a field of eddies; the eddies are more dominant south of 39ºN, where the jet broadens and where multiple jets and filaments are often present. At the surface, the jet often separates biological communities and may appear as a barrier to cross-jet transport, especially north of Point Arena early in the season (March–May) However, phytoplankton pigment and nutrients are carried on the inshore flank of the jet, and pigment maxima are sometimes found in the core of the jet. The biological effect of the jet is to define a convoluted, 100 to 400-km-wide region next to the coast, within which much of the richer water is contained, and also to carry some of that richer water offshore in meanders along the outer edge of that region. Title: The nature of the cold filaments in the California current system Author: Mackas, D. L., Swenson, M., Chavez, F., James, C., Batteen, M., Strub, P. Ted, Kadko, D., Abbott, Mark R., Hayward, T., Dewey, R., Ramp, S., Brink, K. H., Niiler, Pearn P., Huyer, Adriana, 1945-, Kosro, P. Michael, 1951-, Haidvogel, D., Barber, R., Haney, R., Walstad, L., Hood, R. R., Barth, John A., Washburn, L. A. Data from the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment are used to describe the velocity fields and water properties associate with cold filaments in the California Current. Combined with previous field surveys and satellite imagery, these show seasonal variability with maximum dynamic height ranges and velocities in summer and minimum values in late winter and early spring. North of Point Arenda (between 39ºN and 42ºN) in spring–summer the flow field on the outer edge of the cold water has the character of a meandering jet, carrying fresh, nutrient-poor water from farther north on its offshore side and cold, salty, nutrient-rich water on its inshore side. At Point Arena in midsummer, the jet often flows offshore and continues south without meandering back onshore as strongly as it does farther north. The flow field south of Point Arena in summer takes on more of the character of a field of mesoscale eddies, although the meandering jet from the north continues to be identifiable. The conceptual model for the May–July period between 36ºN and 42ºN is thus of a surface jet that meanders through and interacts with a field of eddies; the eddies are more dominant south of 39ºN, where the jet broadens and where multiple jets and filaments are often present. At the surface, the jet often separates biological communities and may appear as a barrier to cross-jet transport, especially north of Point Arena early in the season (March–May) However, phytoplankton pigment and nutrients are carried on the inshore flank of the jet, and pigment maxima are sometimes found in the core of the jet. The biological effect of the jet is to define a convoluted, 100 to 400-km-wide region next to the coast, within which much of the richer water is contained, and also to carry some of that richer water offshore in meanders along the outer edge of that region. Close

• 5. [Article] Phytoplankton and photosynthetic light response in the coastal transition zone off northern California in June 1987

  In June 1987 the geostropic flow in the coastal transition zone off northern California (between 50 and 150 km off the coast from Point Reyes to just north of Cape Mendocino) was dominated by a well-defined, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Phytoplankton and photosynthetic light response in the coastal transition zone off northern California in June 1987 Author: Abbott, Mark R., Hood, R. R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945- In June 1987 the geostropic flow in the coastal transition zone off northern California (between 50 and 150 km off the coast from Point Reyes to just north of Cape Mendocino) was dominated by a well-defined, southward-meandering current. Three vertical sections are presented that show the hydrographic structure of the current down to 100 m and its relationship to the distribution of phytoplankton biomass. The sections show that the geostrophic adjustment brought cold, saline, deep water up to the surface on the low steric height, or cold side of the flow, and that this upwelled water supported a relatively large diatom biomass (chlorophyll-a concentrations between 1 and 10 mg m-3). We present particle size spectra and photomicrographs of the phytoplankton that show that the diatom biomass was dominated by chain-forming species (e.g., Skeletonema costatum, Chaetoceros spp., Thalassiosira spp., and Rhizosolenia alata, but also a single-celled Actinocyclus sp.). Photosynthetic light response measurements reveal that these diatom communities were capable of high photosynthetic rates (Pmax between 5 and 25 mg C mg Chla-1 h-1). Although most of the diatoms were located in cold, slow-moving water on the low side of the current, some were being carried downstream. High chlorophyll concentrations were observed at depths > 75 m in and along the cold edge of the flow in all of our sections; we show evidence that in tow out of three cases this was the result of water mass subduction. Title: Phytoplankton and photosynthetic light response in the coastal transition zone off northern California in June 1987 Author: Abbott, Mark R., Hood, R. R., Huyer, Adriana, 1945- In June 1987 the geostropic flow in the coastal transition zone off northern California (between 50 and 150 km off the coast from Point Reyes to just north of Cape Mendocino) was dominated by a well-defined, southward-meandering current. Three vertical sections are presented that show the hydrographic structure of the current down to 100 m and its relationship to the distribution of phytoplankton biomass. The sections show that the geostrophic adjustment brought cold, saline, deep water up to the surface on the low steric height, or cold side of the flow, and that this upwelled water supported a relatively large diatom biomass (chlorophyll-a concentrations between 1 and 10 mg m-3). We present particle size spectra and photomicrographs of the phytoplankton that show that the diatom biomass was dominated by chain-forming species (e.g., Skeletonema costatum, Chaetoceros spp., Thalassiosira spp., and Rhizosolenia alata, but also a single-celled Actinocyclus sp.). Photosynthetic light response measurements reveal that these diatom communities were capable of high photosynthetic rates (Pmax between 5 and 25 mg C mg Chla-1 h-1). Although most of the diatoms were located in cold, slow-moving water on the low side of the current, some were being carried downstream. High chlorophyll concentrations were observed at depths > 75 m in and along the cold edge of the flow in all of our sections; we show evidence that in tow out of three cases this was the result of water mass subduction. Close