Coastal thin layer dynamics: Consequences to biology and optics

Thin layers are fine-scale structures with high concentrations of organisms or particles occurring over very small vertical scales (a few meters or less), but with large horizontal scales, often extending for many kilometers. Because of their small vertical scales, thin layers are traditionally under sampled, but when proper measurement techniques are used, thin layers have been found to be ubiquitous in stratified oceans. A multi-investigator, interdisciplinary study of thin layers was sponsored by the US Office of Naval Research under a research initiative termed: Layered Organization in the Coastal Ocean (LOCO). The goal of this program was to understand the properties of coastal thin layers and the interacting physical, chemical, biological and optical processes responsible for their formation, maintenance and dissipation. As part of this program, fine-scale vertical profiles (cm resolution) of biological, physical and chemical properties were made hourly over periods spanning 1–3 weeks during three summers in Monterey Bay, California USA. The vertical profiles were made using arrays of moored autonomous profilers. In total, these profilers made ~2000 individual vertical profiles and provided a unique view of phytoplankton thin layer spatial-temporal dynamics. The autonomous profiler data were supplemented with high-resolution ship-based profiling and discrete water sampling for identifications of organisms.Persistent phytoplankton thin layers were observed during each year in Monterey Bay; however, each year had very different biological and physical dynamics. During 2002, thin layers were dominated by the non-motile and potentially toxic diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia; during 2005, thin layers were dominated by the highly motile dinoflagellate species Akashiwo sanguinea; and during 2006, a more complex phytoplankton assemblage was present, but thin layers of the toxic dinoflagellate species Alexandrium catenella frequently occurred. The variability in the vertical location of thin layers in 2002 was primarily controlled by physics, while behavior, e.g. diurnal vertical migration patterns and daytime near-surface aggregations, primarily controlled the location of thin layers in 2005 and 2006. In 2002, phytoplankton thin layers were present in the water column 87% of the time, in 2005, 56% of the time and in 2006, 21% of the time. The median integrated chlorophyll concentration within the thin layers was found to be approximately 47% of the total water column chlorophyll in 2002, 41% in 2005 and 33% in 2006. Additional results in this study describe the mechanisms driving the spatial-temporal dynamics of these phytoplankton thin layers with special emphasis on diel patterns and the specific relationships that thin layers have to biological and physical processes and water column optics.