A Lagrangian Physical-Biological Model to Study Water Parcels Associated with Algal Blooms from Southern California Bight to Todos Santos Bay.

Abstract:

Lagrangian ocean circulation and biological dynamics are numerically studied in Todos Santos Bay during the spring of 2007. This period is particularly interesting after an intense toxic algal bloom occurred in April 2007 in this area, which was associated with the wind-driven upwelling in the region. High resolution, numerical model simulations were carried out to study dynamical features along of the Southern California Bight (SCB), the coast of the northern Baja California (BC), and the interior of Todos Santos Bay (TSB). These simulations are used in a three-dimensional Lagrangian (particle tracking) analysis which provides information about the origin and distribution of the waters present in the Bay during the occurrence of the toxic bloom. After the selection of trajectories of particles showing coherent patterns, a Nitrate-Phytoplankton-Zooplankton-Detritus (NPZD) lower trophic model is implemented to study the influence of the environmental conditions that occur during the particle advection, solving the NPZD equations at every time-varying position of the advected particles. The model is also modified for phytoplankton growth as a function of the environmental temperature to somehow emulate the life cycle of Pseudo-nitzschia. The analysis of the trajectories shows that particles mainly come from two regions: from the north, in the southern portion of SCB and from regions west of the TSB. Knowing the regional circulation patterns and their phytoplankton dynamics can help to understand and even predict the origin and destination of the harmful algal blooms that occur in TSB and its surroundings.