Longwaves and primary productivity variations in the equatorial Pacific at O°, 140°W

High temporal resolution measurements of physical and bio-optical variables were made in the upper ocean using a mooring located at 0 degrees, 140 degrees W from 9 February 1992 to 15 March 1993 as part of the equatorial Pacific Ocean (EqPac) study. Chlorophyll and primary productivity time-series records were generated using the mooring data. Primary productivity varied by about 50% around the mean on time scales of weeks and by over a factor of four within our observational period. The mooring observations encompassed both El Nino and cool conditions. Kelvin waves were evident during the El Nino phase, and tropical instability waves (TIWs) were dominant during the cool phase. The two extreme conditions also were observed concurrently with complementary ship-based measurements. In addition, bio-optical drifters provided simultaneous spatial data concerning net phytoplankton growth rates during passage of a TIW. The collective data sets have been used to examine the causes of the observed variability in phytoplankton biomass and productivity. Our joint results and analyses appear to support the hypothesis that the vertical transport of iron into the upper layer and primary production rates are modulated by variability of the depth of the Equatorial Undercurrent and by equatorial longwaves. In particular, our results are consonant with the suggestion of Barber el al. (1996) that passage of a TIW may be considered to be a natural analog of a small iron enrichment experiment. Predicting primary productivity and, thus, carbon flux in the equatorial Pacific requires continuous, long-term observations of a few physical, biological, and optical properties that can be used to parameterize the biological variability. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.