Biological activity in the wake of an island close to a coastal upwelling

Hydrodynamic forcing plays an important role in shaping the dynamics of marine organisms, in particular of plankton. in this work we study the planktonic biological activity in the wake of an island which is close to an upwelling region. Our research is based on numerical analysis of a kinematic flow mimicking the hydrodynamics in the wake, coupled to a three-component plankton model. We use parameter values relevant for the Canary wake, and the main results for a realistic range of parameters in this area are as follows: (a) Primary production is enhanced in the region of the wake opposite to the upwelling zone. (b) There is a strong dependence of the productivity on the inflow conditions of biological material entering the wake transported by the main current. Finally (c) we show that under certain conditions the interplay between wake structures and biological growth leads to plankton blooms inside mesoscale hydrodynamic vortices that act as incubators of primary production. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.