ALBERT

Description: The tropical Angolan upwelling system (tAUS) is a highly productive ecosystem with a distinct seasonal variability with productivity peaking in austral winter. The tAUS is connected to equatorial dynamics via the propagation of equatorial and coastal trapped waves (CTWs). We use hydrographic, ocean turbulence and satellite data to investigate the role of CTWs in controlling the seasonal cycle of productivity in the tAUS. During austral winter associated with the passage of an upwelling CTW, the nitracline is displaced upward by about 50 m. Through this vertical advection nitrate-rich waters passes onto the shelf. Due to the elevated mixing rates on the shelf, this movement of the nitracline results an increased vertical nitrate flux into the ocean mixed layer. Our analysis further shows that interannual variability in the strength of the austral winter net primary production correlates with the amplitude of the seal level anomaly signal of the corresponding upwelling CTW. The signal of sea level depression leads the maximum productivity signal by about 40 days. It is suggested that this time lag arises, among other factors, from the vertical structure of the CTWs arriving in the tAUS. While the sea level anomaly is dominated by the faster low-baroclinic mode CTWs, the displacement of the nitracline is mainly influenced by the slower high-baroclinic mode CTWs that arrive later in the tAUS. Our results highlight the crucial role CTWs play for the productivity in the tAUS. The strong connection between equatorial dynamics and productivity further introduces a possibility for predicting interannual variability.