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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, C03043, doi:10.1029/2003JC001938, 2004

Satellite evidence of hurricane-induced phytoplankton blooms in an oceanic desert

S. M. Babin

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

J. A. Carton

Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

T. D. Dickey

Ocean Physics Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California, USA

J. D. Wiggert

Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Abstract

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.

Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312).

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Citation: Babin, S. M., J. A. Carton, T. D. Dickey, and J. D. Wiggert (2004), Satellite evidence of hurricane-induced phytoplankton blooms in an oceanic desert, J. Geophys. Res., 109, C03043, doi:10.1029/2003JC001938.

Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.