TITLE:
The Relevance of Biological and Hydrodynamic Timescale in the Growth of Plankton
AUTHORS:
Yaya Youssouf Yaya
KEYWORDS:
Plankton, Upwelling, Vortices, Nutrient, Limit Cycle
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modelling and Simulation,
Vol.11 No.4,
October
27,
2023
ABSTRACT: The relationship between hydrodynamic mesoscale
structures and plankton formation in the wake of an island, as well as its
interaction with a coastal upwelling, is investigated. Our focus is on the
process by which vortices create localized plankton blooms. A basic
three-component model for marine ecology was utilized, as well as a coupled
system of kinematic flow that mimicked the mesoscale features underlying the
island. We show that the prevalence of localized plankton blooms is produced
mostly by the prolonged residence times of nutrients and plankton in the
island’s vicinity, as well as the confinement of plankton within vortices.