Effects of Langmuir Circulations on the Plankton
Abstract
My long term goal is to contribute to our understanding and prediction of the dynamics of marine populations and ocean-atmosphere interactions. Of particular interest to me are the effects of weather, and its climatic variation and long-term change, on the plankton and fish. My object remains the same as that stated last year. I wish to establish whether the plankton is affected by Langmuir Circulations (LCs). LCs are wind- and wave-induced flows in the mixed layer (ML) and comprised of counter-rotating, helical cells aligned with the wind. They occur widely and frequently. While their surface manifestation is relatively well known, their dynamics and relation to the plankton are less well understood. Of particular interest is the effect of flow on plankton distributions and associated processes, including feeding. The challenge is to measure plankton distributions and processes simultaneous with the physical flow and property distributions. Specific, and final, objectives of my work remain to (a) verify pattern of zooplankton-sized particles, observed with the profiling Optical Plankton Counter (OPC), by comparing them with results of the simultaneous sampling of the plankton by use of a pump, and (b) investigate the relation of the observed distribution of scalars (temperature, chlorophyll a, and zooplankton) to turbulence, heat flux, and other scalars and vectors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA535307
Entities
People
- Dave Checkley
Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography