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Free keywords:
Time-series station; southern-ocean; interannual variability;
kerfix; temperature; model; iron
Abstract:
[1] We use the observed variations in ocean surface chlorophyll, temperature and height caused by the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW) as a natural laboratory to determine how marine biology responds to changes in ocean stratification in the Southern Ocean. Interannual variations of surface chlorophyll (+/- 5%) observed by SeaWiFS satellite during 1997- 2001 vary in phase over the entire Southern Ocean in spite of large east-west dipoles in ocean dynamics. We suggest that this behavior is due to the regional predominance of light versus nutrient limitation over the most productive regions of the Southern Ocean.
