Deep chlorophyll maximum distribution in the central Tyrrhenian Sea described by a towed undulating vehicle |
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Authors: | M Marcelli M Caburazzi A Perilli V Piermattei E Fresi |
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Institution: | 1. University of Tuscia, DECOS , via S. Giovanni Decollato 1, 01100, Viterbo, Italy marcomarcell@tin.it;3. University of Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Dipartimento di Biologia (LESA) , via di Passo Lombardo 430, 00133, Rome;4. CNR-IAMC Sez. Oristano, Loc. Sa Mardini , 09070, Torregrande-Oristano, Italy;5. University of Tuscia, DECOS , via S. Giovanni Decollato 1, 01100, Viterbo, Italy |
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Abstract: | The towed undulating vehicle (TUV), named SARAGO, was used for two fine-scale surveys between the Italian and the Sardinian coasts during the Astraea 2 cruise (6–7 and 26–27 September 1995), studying the deep chlorophyll maximum distribution. SARAGO sections identify a sub-surface doming with higher chlorophyll a and primary production concentrations in the upwelling area of a cyclonic gyre region, detected by sea-surface temperature images. In the first section, the cyclone presents a double doming, in density and salinity, with shallower and concentrated patches of chlorophyll a for about 2 miles. Twenty days later, the second section shows that the gyre changes shape and extension, showing a single doming with higher primary production and chlorophyll a concentrations, distributed over a large area of about 40 nautical miles. SARAGO allows analysis of this high-variability phenomenon (cyclonic gyre) and allows concentrated patches (2 nm) to be identified, thus proving the importance of TUVs in the study of mesoscale processes. |
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Keywords: | DCM Primary production SARAGO Towed vehicle |
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