Title
Turbulence and hypoxia contribute to dense biological scattering layers in a Patagonian fjord system
Date Issued
09 October 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Pérez-Santos I.
Castro L.
Ross L.
Niklitschek E.
Mayorga N.
Cubillos L.
Escalona E.
Castillo M.
Alegría N.
Daneri G.
Publisher(s)
Copernicus GmbH
Abstract
The aggregation of plankton species along fjords can be linked to physical properties and processes such as stratification, turbulence and oxygen concentration. The goal of this study is to determine how water column properties and turbulent mixing affect the horizontal and vertical distributions of macrozooplankton along the only northern Patagonian fjord known to date, where hypoxic conditions occur in the water column. Acoustic Doppler current profiler moorings, scientific echo-sounder transects and in situ plankton abundance measurements were used to study macrozooplankton assemblages and migration patterns along Puyuhuapi Fjord and Jacaf Channel in Chilean Patagonia. The dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy was quantified through vertical microstructure profiles collected throughout time in areas with high macrozooplankton concentrations. The acoustic records and in situ macrozooplankton data revealed diel vertical migrations (DVM) of siphonophores, chaetognaths and euphausiids. In particular, a dense biological backscattering layer was observed along Puyuhuapi Fjord between the surface and the top of the hypoxic boundary layer (∼ 100m), which limited the vertical distribution of most macrozooplankton and their DVM, generating a significant reduction of habitat. Aggregations of macrozooplankton and fishes were most abundant around a submarine sill in Jacaf Channel. In this location macrozooplankton were distributed throughout the water column (0 to ∼ 200m), with no evidence of a hypoxic boundary due to the intense mixing near the sill. In particular, turbulence measurements taken near the sill indicated high dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy (ϵ ∼ 10-5Wkg-1) and vertical diapycnal eddy diffusivity (Kρ∼ 10-3m2s-1). The elevated vertical mixing ensures that the water column is well oxygenated (3-6mLL-1, 60%-80% saturation), creating a suitable environment for macrozooplankton and fish aggregations. Turbulence induced by tidal flow over the sill apparently enhances the interchange of nutrients and oxygen concentrations with the surface layer, creating a productive environment for many marine species, where the prey-predator relationship might be favored.
Start page
1185
End page
1206
Volume
14
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Oceanografía, Hidrología, Recursos hídricos Biología marina, Biología de agua dulce, Limnología Biología reproductiva
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85054646842
Source
Ocean Science
ISSN of the container
18120784
Sponsor(s)
Acknowledgements. The ADCP data were collected as part of the FONDECYT grant 3120038 and 11140161 by Ivan Perez-Santos and the help of Wolfgang Schneider’s research group. Financial support was also provided by Centro Copas Sur Austral AFB170006. We thank Arnoldo Valle-Levinson for motivating the acoustic study of zooplankton in Chilean Patagonia. We also thank Luis Cubillos and Billy Ernst for providing the scientific echo sounder and Cristian Parra and Hernán Rebolledo for administering the scientific echo-sounder sampling. Leonardo Castro was also financed by Centro de Investigaciones de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL). We thank Juan Ramón Velasquez and Oscar Pizarro’s research group for their assistance in the ADCP 1, 2 and 3 moorings and Adolfo Mesa, Aldo Balba and Eduardo Escalona for conducting most of the zooplankton sampling. Giovanni Daneri is funded by FONDECYT grant 1131063. Manuel Castillo is funded by FONDECYT grant 11160500.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus