In an effort to elucidate the mechanism responsible for large-scale
zooplankton variability in the California Current, zooplankton biomass and
hydrographic data from the California Cooperative Fisheries Investigation
data set and wind data from Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center model
analyses have been used to construct a box model biomass budget. The...
The Northern California Current (NCC) ecosystem exhibits extreme seasonal, interannual and interdecadal shifts in the abiotic environment and shifts in primary and higher production. This variability is also apparent in the spatial structure of the ecosystem with nearshore-shelf waters (<150 m isobath) being highly productive and having a different community...
In eastern boundary current upwelling ecosystems, mesoscale circulation features such as eddies and upwelling filaments play a prominent role in the transfer of water and the associated plankton from the productive nearshore to the oligotrophic deep sea. The relationship between mesoscale circulation, zooplankton distributions, and the across-shelf transport of coastal...
Small pelagic fish represent a critical trophic link between plankton and large predators in marine upwelling ecosystems such as the California Current System. Populations of these fish are highly variable over time and are characterized by extreme fluctuations in abundance, which have significant ecosystem impacts. The causes driving
this instability...
Recruitment of larvae from the plankton is an important determinant of
community structure in marine systems. In populations of many marine species,
recruitment determines the basic demographic parameters of immigration, emigration,
and reproduction. Moreover, the effect of recruitment as an "ecological subsidy" can
determine the strength of interactions among species...
Three deep-sea subsurface moorings, each equipped with five current meters at depths from 150m below the surface to 200m above the bottom, were deployed off Northern California from September 1984 to July 1985 as part of the OPTOMA program. The triad of moorings, centered near 38.5°N, 125°W, had mutual separations...
Temperature, salinity, density and turbulent dissipation profiles measured using the Rapid Sampling Vertical Profiler during the Coastal Transition Zone Experiment, July 1988.
CTD observations were made in the Code region near Pt Arena on the northern California coast at 39°N, off Purisima Pt. at 34°45'N and off Crescent City at 41°54'N, during 25 April - 7 May 1981. The observations in the Code region included four repeated sections along the Central Line,...
Surface drifters were depldyed and tracked over the continental shelf and upper continental slope off central California between Point Conception and Point Sur. The drifters were deployed and tracked from aircraft by Aero-Marine Surveys, Inc. under subcontract to Raytheon Service Company as part of the Central California Coastal Circulation Study...
During some of the CODE mooring deployment and recovery cruises, CTD
observations were made on an ancillary basis. In conjunction with the recovery
of the CODE-2 array, CTD observations were made during 3-5 August
(CODE-2 Leg 10) and 19 August (CODE-2 Leg 13). The CTD observations were
made alongside current...