The effect of advection on the nutrient reservoir in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre

Nature ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 437 (7059) ◽  
pp. 687-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime B. Palter ◽  
M. Susan Lozier ◽  
Richard T. Barber
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Changes across 66°W, the Caribbean Sea and the Western boundaries of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

2018 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
pp. 296-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Casanova-Masjoan ◽  
T.M. Joyce ◽  
M.D. Pérez-Hernández ◽  
P. Vélez-Belchí ◽  
A. Hernández-Guerra
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Caribbean Sea ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The North ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The North Atlantic

The spiralling North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristofer Döös ◽  
Sara Berglund ◽  
Trevor Mcdougall ◽  
Sjoerd Groeskamp
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The South ◽  
Spiral Flow ◽  
The North ◽  
Saline Waters ◽  
Downward Spiral ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The North Atlantic

<p>The North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is shown to have a downward spiral flow beneath the mixed layer, where the water slowly gets denser, colder and fresher as it spins around the gyre. This path is traced with Lagrangian trajectories as they enter the Gyre in the Gulf Stream from the south until they exit through the North Atlantic Drift. The preliminary results indicate that these warm, saline waters from the south gradually becomes fresher, colder and denser due to mixing with waters originating from the North Atlantic. There are indications that there is also a diapycnal mixing, in the eastern part of the gyre due to mixing with the saline Mediterranean Waters, which would then be crucial for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning. The mixing in the rest of the gyre is dominated by isopycnic mixing, which transforms gradually the water into colder and fresher water as it spins down the gyre into the abyssal ocean before heading north.</p>

scholarly journals Surface Salinity in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre During the STRASSE/SPURS Summer 2012 Cruise

Oceanography ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Reverdin ◽  
◽  
Simon Morisset ◽  
Louis Marieé ◽  
Denis Bourras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

scholarly journals Nine years of mass transport data in the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

2010 ◽  
Vol 115 (C9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Fraile-Nuez ◽  
Francisco Machín ◽  
Pedro Vélez-Belchí ◽  
Federico López-Laatzen ◽  
Rafael Borges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transport ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The North ◽  
Eastern Boundary ◽  
The North Atlantic

scholarly journals Modeling the Exposure of the Macaronesia Islands (NE Atlantic) to Marine Plastic Pollution

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cláudio Cardoso ◽  
Rui M. A. Caldeira
Keyword(s):  
Canary Islands ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Oceanic Islands ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Cabo Verde ◽  
The North ◽  
African Coast ◽  
The North Atlantic

The constant increase of marine plastic pollution poses an unprecedented risk to oceanic islands, which become increasingly exposed to a hazard of which they have very little control. Located in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesia is comprised by the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and Cabo Verde. Although past studies suggest that most plastic items collected on these islands are from offshore regions, their actual sources remain unclear to present date. As such, we focus on the characterization of the potential sources and pathways of plastic particles reaching the Macaronesia archipelagos. This is achieved by combining modeled datasets for ocean currents, winds and waves with a Lagrangian tool used to track virtual particles released around the archipelagos for a 10-year period, making a distinction between surface and submerged particles. Global drifter trajectories are also assessed, selecting those that intercept the archipelagos. Our results demonstrate that the North Atlantic subtropical gyre is the most conspicuous feature in particles and drifter trajectories. The Gulf Stream acts as the main pathway for all archipelagos at a regional scale, though with less significance to Cabo Verde. Surface particles are connected to regional sources in a shorter timescale than mixed particles, mainly because of the wind. Intercepting high-windage particle trajectories are dominant at the center of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, demonstrating that particles originating from the North Atlantic “garbage patch” are most likely to intercept the archipelagos if considerably exposed to the wind. Regarding the connectivity to sources, all archipelagos are significantly exposed to areas of intensive fishing activity, mainly those located in the Gulf Stream (Azores), in international waters off the Portuguese coast (Madeira and Canary Islands) and along the Northwestern African coast (Cabo Verde). The east coasts of Central and North America are the main sources of land-based particles reaching the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands, whereas the Northwestern African coast is the main source for land-based particles reaching Cabo Verde. Our results demonstrate how vulnerable the Macaronesian archipelagos are to marine plastic pollution, highlighting the urgency for international cooperation to mitigate the exposure of oceanic islands to marine plastic pollution.

scholarly journals Importance of dissolved organic nitrogen in the North Atlantic Ocean in sustaining primary production: a 3-D modelling approach

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1727-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Charria ◽  
I. Dadou ◽  
J. Llido ◽  
M. Drévillon ◽  
V. Garçon
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Dissolved Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Organic Nitrogen ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract. An eddy-permitting coupled ecosystem-circulation model including dissolved organic matter is used to estimate the dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) supply sustaining primary production in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. After an analysis of the coupled model performances compared to the data, a sensitivity study demonstrates the strong impact of parameter values linked to the hydrolysis of particulate organic nitrogen and remineralisation of dissolved organic nitrogen on surface biogeochemical concentrations. The physical transport of dissolved organic nitrogen contributes to maintain the level of primary production in this subtropical gyre. It is dominated by the meridional component. We estimate a meridional net input of 0.039 molN.m−2.yr−1 over the domain (13°–35° N and 71–40° W) in the subtropical gyre. This supply is driven by the Ekman transport in the southern part and by non-Ekman transport (meridional current components, eddies, meanders and fronts) in the northern part of the subtropical gyre. At 12° N, our estimate (18 kmolN.s-1) confirms the estimation (17.9 kmolN.s-1) made by Roussenov et al. (2006) using a simplified biogeochemical model in a large scale model. This DON meridional input is within the range (from 0.05 up to 0.24 molN.m−2.yr-1) (McGillicuddy and Robinson, 1997; Oschlies, 2002) of all other possible mechanisms (mesoscale activity, nitrogen fixation, atmospheric deposition) fuelling primary production in the subtropical gyre. The present study confirms that the lateral supply of dissolved organic nitrogen might be important in closing the N budget over the North Atlantic Ocean and quantifies the importance of meridional input of dissolved organic nitrogen.

scholarly journals Oxygen and nitrate new production and remineralization in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre

1990 ◽  
Vol 95 (C10) ◽  
pp. 18303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge L. Sarmiento ◽  
Gerhard Thiele ◽  
Robert M. Key ◽  
Willard S. Moore
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
New Production ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic
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