Assessing the physical effects driving the mid-shelf front in the Patagonian Sea (SW Atlantic Ocean)

LAURA A. RUIZ ETCHEVERRY; MARIA CELESTE LÓPEZ ABBATE; LORELEY S. LAGO; SILVIA INES ROMERO; MARTIN SARACENO

Venecia

Simposio; Ocean From Space, Scuola Grande di San Marco, Venezia; 2023

NSA Group srl

The Mid-Shelf Front is located in the Southwestern Atlantic Continental Shelf, between 39°S and 41°S, and offshore the 50m isobath. This region is characterized by high productivity during spring and summer. However, the factors that promote this high productivity have not been fully explained. Therefore, the objective of this work is to describe the MSF using satellite sea surface temperature data and its associated biological productivity pattern with satellite chlorophylla (CSAT) at climatological scale. Our results show that the physical front is not the cause of the phytoplankton bloom since the front is weak in austral spring when the chlorophyll-a (chla) concentration is maximum. We discuss that the MSF and the productivity hotspot result from the joint effect of several factors.