Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2005.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2006
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/31192 |
| _version_ | 1826195543039148032 |
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| author | Du, Qingling |
| author2 | Cabell Davis. |
| author_facet | Cabell Davis. Du, Qingling |
| author_sort | Du, Qingling |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2005. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:14:23Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/31192 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:14:23Z |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/311922019-04-12T09:39:12Z Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 Du, Qingling Cabell Davis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Biology. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-79). A key question in biological oceanography is how plankton populations maintain themselves in regions of favorable growth and survival in the face of horizontal transport by ocean currents. Plankton are thought to be retained on the highly productive Georges Bank by the clockwise flow, which intensifies with vernal warming. The extent to which plankton are transported off the bank to the southwest or transported northward and retained on the bank remains poorly understood. This thesis examined the relationship between plankton and physical properties in the southwest corner of the bank, the retention-loss region (RLR). Analysis of field data (Video Plankton Recorder, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, and satellite-tracked drifters) and modeling results was performed to quantify the relationships between plankton, hydrography, and currents and the fluxes through the RLR. Temperature-salinity-plankton diagrams and factor analysis revealed that most plankton taxa had characteristic relationships to the hydrography, with the exception of copepods which were everywhere abundant. The flux of plankton during a complete tidal cycle and in the de-tided current data indicated this region was not retentive to plankton, since the bulk of the flow remained to the southwest, despite the presence of a vernally warmed surface layer. A Lagrangian particle trajectory model was used to further examine transport of plankton through the RLR during late spring /early summer (June) when vernal stratification was established. Passive particles were used, since no diel vertical migration by plankton was found in the data. The model revealed that the bulk of the plankton was carried out of the RLR through the southern and western boundaries. (cont.) The modeling and data analysis show clearly that the plankton were lost from the bank to the southwest rather than being re-circulated to the north. These results have important implications for the plankton populations on Georges Bank and can be used in future modeling efforts that examine the factors controlling plankton populations in this region. by Qingling Du. S.M. 2006-02-02T18:57:24Z 2006-02-02T18:57:24Z 2005 2005 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/31192 61272950 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 79 leaves 4306078 bytes 4314433 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Biology. Du, Qingling Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title | Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title_full | Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title_fullStr | Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title_short | Relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of Georges Bank during June 1997 |
| title_sort | relationship of plankton and marine snow to hydrography and currents on the south portion of georges bank during june 1997 |
| topic | Biology. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/31192 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duqingling relationshipofplanktonandmarinesnowtohydrographyandcurrentsonthesouthportionofgeorgesbankduringjune1997 |