Structure of Haida eddies and their transport of nutrient from coastal margins into the NE Pacific Ocean

Anticyclonic mesoscale eddies form near shore each winter in the Gulf of Alaska. One site near the Queen Charlotte Islands is shown to produce eddies that transport from 3000 to 6000 km(3) of coastal water up to 1000 km westward. Eddies carry shelf nutrients either into the high nutrient, low chlorophyll waters of the NE Pacific, or in a more southerly direction into seasonally nitrate depleted waters. A large eddy sampled in summer 1998 was found to have elevated particulate levels on its perimeter. Nitrate supplied to the euphotic zone by this eddy during its natal summer is estimated to be three times greater than the usual seasonal nutrient transport in the Gulf of Alaska.