EAS 1540 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Ekman Layer, Thermocline, Upwelling
27 Jun 2016
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Document Summary
Primary production is exceptionally low in the subtropical gyres, as they make it difficult for nutrients to reach the surface and thus surface level nutrients are low during all seasons. Need thermocline close to surface and divergence in ekman layer to get primary production at equator. Winds blow down the coast in the summer, upwelling the water and creating a much higher nutrient concentrations. Critical depth - when cells mix below to this depth, they have spent too much of the day below the compensation depth losing carbon - the npp for the day will be 0 if they reach this depth. Spring bloom - biggest bump in nppp in the spring. Oceanic npp is about 46% of world npp - total of 50 gigatons.
