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A multidisciplinary cruise aboard the R/V Southern Surveyor was conducted in May 2006 to sample a developing anticyclonic eddy of the Leeuwin Current off Western Australia. The eddy formed from a meander of the Leeuwin Current in mid-April 2006 and remained attached to the current until mid-August. In this study, a combination of satellite data (altimeter, sea surface temperature, and chlorophyll a) and shipboard measurements (acoustic Doppler current profiler and conductivity-temperature-depth) were used to characterize the physical and chemical signatures of the eddy. The temperature-salinity properties of the mixed layer waters within the anticyclonic eddy and on the shelf were both connected to that of the Leeuwin Current, indicating the water mass in the eddy is mainly derived from the Leeuwin Current and the modified Leeuwin Current water on the shelf. Above the salinity maximum near the eddy center, there was a regionally significant concentration of nitrate (>0.9 μmol L−1), and the maximum (2 μmol L−1) was at 150 m depth, below the photic zone. Nitrification within the eddy and/or local upwelling due to the forming eddy could be responsible for this high concentration of nitrate near the eddy center, which potentially makes the eddy a relatively productive feature in the Leeuwin Current.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Physical oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Marine systems and management
Objective Field:	Measurement and assessment of marine water quality and condition
UTAS Author:	Paterson, H (Dr Harriet Paterson)
ID Code:	59780
Year Published:	2008
Web of Science® Times Cited:	30
Deposited By:	Research Division
Deposited On:	2009-12-17
Last Modified:	2009-12-18
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