Vertical stability as a controlling factor of the marine phytoplankton production at the Prince Edward Archipelago (Southern Ocean)

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Abstract
Relationships between phytoplankton production and biomass and upper ocean stability and mixing depth were analysed using data obtained on 3 cruises to the Prince Edward Islands. Bloom concentrations of chlorophyll a occurred over a wide range of mixed layer depths, from 20 to 130 m. A relatively low percentage of total biomass variance was accounted for by the degree of vertical stability. Conversely, the dominant source of variation responsible for observed differences in the meso-scale distribution of production variables (integrated production rate and photosynthetic capacity) was strongly related to the vertical structure of the water-column. It is suggested that the high levels of fresh-water run-off from the islands are retained in the inter-island region by an anticyclonic eddy field. This would result in a local increase in vertical stability with consequent enhanced primary production.

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