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Case Studies Of Tropical Cyclones And Phytoplankton Blooms Over Atlantic And Pacific Regions, Ashley Merritt-Takeuchi, Sen Chiao

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

This study investigates phytoplankton blooms following the passage of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins. The variables of sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll (Chl-a), precipitation, and storm surface winds were monitored for two case studies, Typhoon Xangsane (2006) and Hurricane Earl (2010). Strong near-surface wind from tropical cyclones creates internal friction, which causes deep nutrient enriched waters to displace from the bottom of the ocean floor up toward the surface. In return, the abundance of upwelled nutrients near the surface provides an ideal environment for the growth of biological substances such as chlorophyll and phytoplankton. The inverse …