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Satellite evidence of hurricane-induced phytoplankton blooms in an oceanic desert
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
Ocean Physics Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California, USA
Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
The physical effects of hurricanes include deepening of the mixed layer and decreasing of the sea surface temperature in response to entrainment, curl-induced upwelling, and increased upper ocean cooling. However, the biological effects of hurricanes remain relatively unexplored. In this paper, we examine the passages of 13 hurricanes through the Sargasso Sea region of the North Atlantic during the years 1998 through 2001. Remotely sensed ocean color shows increased concentrations of surface chlorophyll within the cool wakes of the hurricanes, apparently in response to the injection of nutrients and/or biogenic pigments into the oligotrophic surface waters. This increase in post-storm surface chlorophyll concentration usually lasted 2–3 weeks before it returned to its nominal pre-hurricane level.
Received 29 April 2003; accepted 21 January 2004; published 25 March 2004.
Citation: (2004), Satellite evidence of hurricane-induced phytoplankton blooms in an oceanic desert, J. Geophys. Res., 109, C03043, doi:10.1029/2003JC001938.
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