Physical Processes and Zooplankton Distribution in the Great South Channel: Observational and Numerical Studies.
Abstract
This thesis addresses the question, 'How do small-scale physics and biology combine to produce dense aggregations of certain species of zooplankton in the Great South Channel (GSC) of the Gulf of Maine?' The thesis consists of three relatively independent parts: an observational study made while following two right whales as they fed on dense patches of the copepod Calanus firmarchicus in the northern GSC; a detailed description of a tightly integrated set of biological and physical observations made in the GSC by means of a new instrument, the Video Plankton Recorder (VPR); and a two-dimensional Eulerian numerical model that simulates one way in which a physical flow field, combined with a biological behavior pattern, may produce dense plankton patches at a convergent front.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA305896
Entities
People
- Ari W. Epstein
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology