Zooplankton distribution and cross-shelf transfer of carbon in an area of complex mesoscale circulation in the northern California Current

We conducted a research cruise in late summer (July-August) 2000 to study the effect of mesoscale circulation features on zooplankton distributions in the coastal upwelling ecosystem of the northern California Current. Our study area was in a region of complex coastline and bottom topography between Newport, Oregon (44.7°N), and Crescent City, California (41.9°N). Winds were generally strong and equatorward for >6 weeks prior to the cruise, resulting in the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water along the coast and an alongshore upwelling jet. In the northern part of the study area, the jet followed the bottom topography, creating a broad, retentive area nearshore over a submarine shelf bank (Heceta Bank, 44-44.4°N). In the south, a meander of the jet extended seaward off of Cape Blanco (42.8°N), resulting in the displacement of coastal water and the associated coastal taxa to >100 km off the continental shelf. Zooplankton biomass was high both over the submarine bank and offshore in the meander of the upwelling jet. We used velocities and standing stocks of plankton in the upper 100 m to estimate that 1×106 m3 of water, containing an average zooplankton biomass of ∼20 mg carbon m−3, was transported seaward across the 2000-m isobath in the meandering jet each second. That flux equated to offshore transport of >900 metric tons of carbon each day, and 4-5×104 tons over the 6-8 week lifetime of the circulation feature. Thus, mesoscale circulation can create disparate regions in which zooplankton populations are retained over the shelf and biomass can accumulate or, alternatively, in which high biomass is advected offshore to the oligotrophic deep sea.