Collaborative Research: Physical-Biological Processes of Gulf Stream Warm Core Rings: Vertical Nutrient Delivery and Ecosystem Response

暖核环作用于西边界流和大陆架之间，对陆坡海和沿岸海的物理和生物环境产生重要影响，而陆坡海和沿岸海是全球初级生产力的主要贡献者。然而，在开阔的海洋中的涡旋相比，湾流暖芯环的生物物理过程中的陆架-斜坡系统的作用受到较少的关注，存在对比的结果。这项研究将阐明关键的生物物理机制，通过调查的生物量特性和主导的物理机制控制与墨西哥湾流暖芯环的垂直营养盐输送。 这项研究对营养动态的更好理解将有助于海洋生物资源的管理和更好的生态系统管理。研究结果将通过公开讲座向公众介绍。该项目还将通过伍兹霍尔海洋学研究所夏季本科生研究方案，支持培训海洋学以外的本科生，该项目调查与西北大西洋陆架-斜坡系统中墨西哥湾流暖芯环演变有关的物理-生物过程，重点是控制垂直营养物输送的主要物理过程。这项研究将包括分析卫星数据、历史现场数据和数值模拟。为了更好地了解几个中尺度生物物理过程的相对重要性，将首先利用卫星观测到的海面高度和叶绿素浓度来确定暖芯环内光合自养生物量的特征。然后，研究人员将进行理想化的数值模拟实验，以确定负责垂直营养物输送的主要物理过程，包括摩擦衰减引起的垂直混合和垂直平流，涡流引起的Ekman泵送和风-海表面温度相互作用。 从理想化建模的结果将进一步综合在一个现实的耦合生物物理模型西北大西洋地区。

Warm core rings acting between western boundary currents and the continental shelf exert significant impact on the physical and biological environments of the slope seas and coastal oceans, which are major contributors to the global primary production. However, compared to that of eddies in the open ocean, the role of Gulf Stream warm core rings in the biophysical processes of the shelf-slope system has received less attention, and contrasting results exist. This study will elucidate the key biophysical mechanisms by investigating the biomass characteristics and the dominant physical mechanisms controlling the vertical nutrient delivery associated with Gulf Stream warm core rings. The improved understanding on nutrient dynamics from this research will contribute to the stewardship of living marine resources, and better ecosystem management. Research findings will be presented to the general public through public lectures. This project will also support the training of undergraduate students outside of oceanography through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.This project investigates the physical-biological processes associated with the evolution of Gulf Stream warm core rings in the shelf-slope system of the Northwest Atlantic, with a focus on the dominant physical processes controlling vertical nutrient delivery. The research will include analyses of satellite data, historical in situ data, and numerical simulations. For better understanding of the relative importance of several mesoscale biophysical processes, the photoautotrophic biomass within the warm core rings will be characterized first using satellite observed sea surface height and chlorophyll concentration. The investigators will then conduct idealized numerical modeling experiments to identify the dominant physical processes responsible for vertical nutrient delivery including vertical mixing and vertical advection induced by frictional decay, eddy-induced Ekman pumping, and wind-sea surface temperature interaction. The findings from the idealized modeling will be further synthesized in a realistic coupled biophysical model for the Northwest Atlantic region.