Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 17 July 2009, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Mike Dinniman
Old Dominion University
Virginia, USA

Circulation on the Western Antarctic Peninsula: Implications for biological production

Field observations from the U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Program showed that marine mammals and other predators concentrate in specific areas of the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) continental shelf. To address the relationship between circulation and predator “hot spots”, Lagrangian tracking experiments were done using particles embedded in simulations of the circulation obtained from a three-dimensional, time-dependent primitive-equation ocean and sea-ice model of the WAP. Floats were released along the WAP outer, mid and inner-shelf regions at a range of depths in different seasons. The simulated particle trajectories showed preferred sites for cross-shelf exchange and onshelf intrusions, which corresponded to areas where higher predator abundance was observed. These results suggest that circulation is potentially important in developing localized areas of high predator abundance perhaps through facilitating aggregation of prey and/or providing areas of enhanced nutrient availability and biological production. The trajectories of floats released along the southwestern area of the model domain showed inputs to the WAP shelf from a portion of the Bellingshausen Sea (BS) west of the WAP with a time scale that is consistent with the time required for Antarctic krill eggs spawned in the BS to develop into larvae. These results suggest connectivity between WAP and BS Antarctic krill populations.

N.B. This is primarily the work of a student at ODU, Andrea Piñones.

Seminar Recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Clothilde Langlais, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5399
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/07/09