Collaborative Research: The influence of mesoscale eddies on deep-sea dynamics and implications for larval connectivity along mid-ocean ridges

该项目将审查中尺度涡旋对深海动力和深海喷口群落中幼虫扩散的影响，及其对东太平洋隆起区人口连通性和复原力的影响。这将使用多尺度数值海洋模型与幼虫供应和定居的观测数据相比较来完成。大洋中脊上的热液喷口群落具有临时栖息地和动态种群的特点。在这些生境中，浮游幼虫阶段的扩散强烈地影响到集合群落对自然和人为干扰的适应能力。在活跃扩张的山脊上的喷口，这一过程尤其关键，因为灾难性的喷发经常发生。研究方法采用多尺度流体动力学模型，该模型结合了拉格朗日粒子跟踪算法，使用有关幼虫行为和洋流的现有数据。该模型将被用来模拟水动力介导的幼虫扩散，这不是直接观察到的，以与观察到的幼虫供应和定植的分析相比较。多尺度模拟将侧重于1993至2022年30年期间东太平洋隆起部分在经过的中尺度涡旋影响下的海洋和扩散过程。调查人员将在不同的空间尺度上审查主温跃层中的涡旋对深海动力学和运输的影响，并将计算许多涡脊相互作用事件的统计数据。生物学分析将通过分析幼虫游泳的视频片段，为模型的幼虫行为表现提供观察约束。该项目由物理海洋学和生物海洋学项目资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will examine the impact of mesoscale eddies on deep ocean dynamics and larval dispersal among deep-sea vent communities and its consequences for population connectivity and resilience at the East Pacific Rise. This will be done using a multiscale numerical ocean model in comparison with observational data of larval supply and colonization. Hydrothermal vent communities on mid-ocean ridges are characterized by temporary habitats and dynamic populations. In these habitats, dispersal in the planktonic larval stage strongly influences resilience of metacommunities to both natural and human-made disturbance. At vents on actively spreading ridges, this process is particularly critical because catastrophic eruptions occur frequently.The research approach employs a multi-scale hydrodynamic model that incorporates a Lagrangian particle-tracking algorithm using available data on larval behaviors and ocean currents. The model will be used to simulate hydrodynamically mediated larval dispersal, which is not directly observable, for comparison with an analysis of observed larval supply and colonization. Multi-scale simulations will focus on oceanic and dispersal processes at the East Pacific Rise segments under the influence of passing mesoscale eddies during the 30-year period from 1993 to 2022. The investigators will examine the impact of eddies in the main thermocline on deep ocean dynamics and transport at different spatial scales and will compute statistics over many incidents of eddy-ridge interaction. Biological analyses will provide observational constraints on the model’s representation of larval behaviors through analysis of video footage of larval swimming.This project was funded by the Physical Oceanography and Biological Oceanography Programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.