Séminaire
Recent multidisciplinary oceanic surveys in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific andNorth Atlantic have shown the influence of mesoscale variability on biogeochemistry and oxygen dynamics in the oxygen minimum zones. Diverse biogeochemical patterns at the subsurface layers suggest a significant impact of eddy activity on nutrient dynamics, likely to contribute to the structure of oxygen-poor waters. Further, measurements in the Eastern Tropical north Atlantic have shown strong contribution of mesoscale eddies on the ventilation on the oxygen minimum zone. Here, we investigate how and to what extent the mesoscale variability contributes to the dynamics of the oxygen minimum zone of the Eastern Tropical South Pacific, using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model. We found that: (1) The subsurface biogeochemical pattern within an eddy is mainly related to the presence of water masses from different origins; (2) Mesoscale variability have a strong impact on oxygen dynamics of the Eastern Tropical South Pacific, both on ventilating and maintaining the oxygen minimum zone.