Sala I., Vallina S. M., Levy Marina, Bolado-Penagos M., Garcia C. M., Echevarria F., Sanchez-Garrido J. C. (2023). Modelling the effect of the tidal cycle on the high phytoplankton biomass area of Cape Trafalgar (SW Iberian Peninsula). Progress in Oceanography, 217, p. 103085 [20 p.]. ISSN 0079-6611.
Titre du document
Modelling the effect of the tidal cycle on the high phytoplankton biomass area of Cape Trafalgar (SW Iberian Peninsula)
Année de publication
2023
Auteurs
Sala I., Vallina S. M., Levy Marina, Bolado-Penagos M., Garcia C. M., Echevarria F., Sanchez-Garrido J. C.
Source
Progress in Oceanography, 2023,
217, p. 103085 [20 p.] ISSN 0079-6611
Physical-biological interactions in the ocean are known to be crucial for understanding ecosystem processes. This is particularly relevant in the highly dynamic coastal regions, where the biogeochemical processes associated with higher-frequency perturbations such as tidal waves play a key role in primary production. In this study, we examine the influence of the tide-topography interaction on the high productivity area of Cape Trafalgar (NW limit of the Strait of Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula) using a high-resolution ocean circulation model coupled to an ecosystem model. The obtained results highlight the relevance of the tidal cycle explaining the high phytoplankton biomass that characterises this region through an active and periodic forcing, resulting in a pulsating upwelling system. Our model shows that the interaction of the westward zonal component of the tidal current (uvel) with the submarine ridge (i.e., Barbate High) that characterises this region, which is perpendicular to the coast, results in the pumping of deep, cold, salty, and nutrient-rich waters to the well-illuminated subsurface waters, fuelling phytoplankton growth. At the same time, the interaction of the westward tidal current with the ridge leads to the development of a cyclonic eddy, which enables the redistribution of the upwelled waters over and to the east of Barbate High. The fortnightly tidal period has been identified as the most influential because (an effective) tidal-pumping process only takes place when the westward uvel is
Plan de classement
Sciences fondamentales / Techniques d'analyse et de recherche [020]
;
Limnologie physique / Océanographie physique [032]
;
Limnologie biologique / Océanographie biologique [034]
Description Géographique
GIBRALTAR ; ATLANTIQUE ; MEDITERRANEE
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010090226]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010090226
