Climatic factors and their robust evidences controlling phytoplankton biomass in the Bransfield Strait

Abstract

The long-term variability of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) was analyzed during a 12-year period (2002 - 2014) in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica, to assess the interannual variability of the Chl-a and its main regulating environmental variables. We found that Chl-a was significantly correlated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase (r = -0.65), sea surface temperature (SST) (r = 0.70), and wind speed (r = 0.72), and changes in these factors preceded the Chl-a change by 0 - 4 months. High phytoplankton blooms (indicated by Chl-a levels) tended to coincide with higher SSTs, and lagged with wind speed variation during La Niña periods. This suggests that atmospheric teleconnections with ENSO-related processes, SST, and wind speed could have a direct impact on phytoplankton biomass in the Bransfield Strait in short-term (smaller then 4 months) scales. Furthermore, our simple multivariable regression analysis showed the prominent possibility of using the three variables to predict Chla in the Bransfield Strait region. Overall, this study will help us to understand how atmospheric and oceanic fluctuations could affect phytoplankton dynamics in the Southern Ocean.