Vertical motion of the thermocline, nitracline and chlorophyll maximum layers in relation to currents on the Southern California Shelf

Abstract

A continuous four-day time series of nitrate concentration, temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, and currents, sampled at fixed depths, revealed that distributions of temperature and nitrate could be accounted for by vertical motions in the water column associated with the semidiurnal internal tide and internal waves. A probable mixing event was observed: the transport of nitrate into the surface-layer associated with shear instabilities generated by internal waves. On temporal scales of less than a few hours, the variation of chlorophyll fluorescence could also be explained by vertical advection. However, on longer scales, swimming behavior of the phytoplankton assemblage (dominated by Ceratium spp.), along with vertical motions in the water column, appears to account for the vertical distribution of chlorophyll. These results indicate that the nitracline maintains a stable relationship with the density structure of the water column on a scale of days, whereas the subsurface chlorophyll maximum can change significantly over several hours.