A scaling estimate for upper ocean productivity based on horizontal eddy diffusivity

Nicholas Nidzieko1, William Haskell2 and Alexander Fisher1, (1)University of California Santa Barbara, Geography, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, (2)Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, United States
Abstract:
We present observations showing that the productivity of the upper ocean scales nonlinearly with the size of the ocean region under consideration. We consider whether this pattern can be explained entirely through horizontal eddy transport by presenting a set of scaling arguments relating Richardson's 'four-thirds law' to the transport of nutrients from the coastal to global ocean.
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