Collaborative Research: Benthic Exhange Events and Near-Boundary Mixing on the Continental Shelf

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An innovative field study examining the dynamics of boundary-interior exchange events on the Monterey Bay shelf will be conducted in Monterey Bay. The main focus is on boundary layer intrusions, often seen in the form of intermediate nepheloid layers (INLs) detaching from the continental margin. The objectives of the project are to (1) identify processes responsible for resuspension of benthic material on the mid- to outer-shelf, (2) improve our understanding of intrusion formation mechanisms, (3) investigate the fate of material transported in intrusions, and (4) investigate event-scale and seasonal variability in intrusion dynamics. The driving hypothesis is that gravitational collapse after internal-wave-forced mixing drives intrusions; however, the experiment is designed to resolve benthic exchange generally, including advective mechanisms such as eddies, shelf currents, or convergent bottom Ekman fluxes.Measurements will include a central benthic station, an offshore moored profiler station and cross-shelf autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys spanning the fixed stations. The observational strategy is to directly observe benthic exchange: from the seafloor interface through the stratified outer boundary layer, across the entire water column, and then into the cross-shelf dimension. New "hybrid" turbulence packages designed to measure turbulence via both scalar dissipation and eddy correlation techniques will be deployed on each of the measurement platforms. High-resolution boundary layer measurements, including bottom shear stress, turbulent dissipation rate, suspended particulates, and erosion events, will be made from a benthic tripod and mooring. Offshore of this platform, a moored profiler will continuously measure, over the entire water column, CTD, optics, and turbulence. Both fixed stations will include full-water-column velocity profiles, from which we will quantify internal wave energy density flux and estimate lateral transport of intrusions/INLs. A long-ranging AUV, newly developed by PI Bellingham, will map both turbulence and intrusions in cross-shelf sections, resolving diapycnal and isopycnal transport processes. Two deployments, one in the late spring upwelling season and the other during stratified fall conditions, will provide unprecedented temporal coverage of full-water-column mixing, internal wave energy, benthic response, and INLs at both event and seasonal scales. The fixed instrumentation will be deployed for one-month-long periods during which the AUV will operate continuously for two weeks.Intellectual Merit. Fundamental questions about the dynamics of boundary-interior exchange motivate this project. On deeper continental slopes this process has important consequences for global abyssal mixing. On continental shelves, particularly those of eastern boundary upwelling coasts, benthic exchange plays a crucial role in ecosystem functioning by providing benthic iron (a limiting micronutrient) and, potentially, benthic resting cysts to the interior and upper water column. Benthic exchange events may explain some of the paradoxical decoupling between upwelling and coastal blooms at the event level. Intrusions/INLs are commonly observed, yet very little is known about their temporal variability, dispersal rates and duration, or forcing. There is ample evidence for an association between INLs and internal wave interaction with topography. Yet, to date there has been no study directly testing the relationship between mixing and boundary intrusion dispersal on a continental margin. This study is focused on the shelf but the findings will be transferrable to deeper continental margins. Better understanding of these dynamics may improve parameterization of boundary mixing in global circulation models.Broader Impacts. A valuable, innovative technique that will be developed as part of this collaborative work is the incorporation of turbulence instrumentation into the payload of the Monterey Bay Research Institute (MBARI) long-range Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The transfer of this technology to a cutting-edge, and routinely operated, AUV system means it will be used in years to come in investigations of fine-resolution fluxes and transports of coastal biological systems. Un-funded collaborator John Ryan will investigate potential links to surface blooms. The project will include training and mentoring of a postdoctoral researcher and two graduate students, and the research findings will be incorporated into the graduate curricula at Moss Landing Marine Laboratory (MLML) and the Naval Postgraduate School. Public outreach and education will benefit from the established MLML Teacher Enhancement Program and MBARI's summer internship program.