Bio-optical footprints created by mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea

Abstract

We investigate the bio-optical footprints made by mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea and the processes that create them through an eddy-centric approach. Many (>10,000) eddies are identified and followed in time using satellite altimetry observations and the spatial ocean color patterns surrounding each eddy are assessed. We find through a sequence of statistical hypothesis tests that not one but several mechanisms (i.e., eddy pumping, eddy advection and eddy-Ekman pumping) are responsible for the spatial-temporal ocean color patterns following individual eddies. Both eddy pumping and the eddy-Ekman pumping mechanisms alter subsurface nutrient distributions thereby driving biogeochemical cycles, while the eddy advection mechanism to first order stirs existing horizontal gradients in bio-optical properties. This work illustrates both the promise and some of the limitations of satellite observations for assessing the biogeochemical impacts of mesoscale eddies.