Marine ecosystem simulation in the eastern tropical Pacific with a global eddy resolving coupled physical-biological model

Abstract

We have simulated the seasonal variability of marine biology in the eastern tropical Pacific using a global eddy-resolving coupled physical-biological model. Using high-resolution satellite wind fields, the model reproduces the seasonal variability of surface chlorophyll influenced by the meso-scale eddies and upwelling associated with the strong offshore wind jets. In winter, upwelling generated by the wind jets in the Gulfs of Tehuantepec, Papagayo, and Panama brings up cold and nitrate-rich waters from subsurface layer, where the tropical spring bloom occurs and is transported offshore. In summer, the intertropical convergence zone moves northward, and these jets weaken. The Costa Rica Dome develops with wind fields west of the Gulf of Papagayo. The dome in the open ocean supports high chlorophyll by the nutrient supply with upwelling. The westward expansion of surface chlorophyll of dome is response to the thermocline variation with the westward propagation of Rossby waves. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.