Arabian Sea ecosystem responses to the South Tropical Atlantic teleconnection

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the Arabian Sea response to changes in the South Tropical Atlantic (STA) sea surface temperatures (SSTs). A series of recent studies have shown that the atmospheric circulation and SSTs in the Indian Ocean, and particularly in the Arabian Sea, are affected by STA SST anomalies via a simple Gill–Matsuno mechanism. Here, we use a regional ocean model coupled with a nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus (NPZD) ecosystem model to analyze the impact of the tropical Atlantic SST anomalies on the IO circulation and ecosystem variability. The STA teleconnection to the Indian Ocean develops as follows: Cold SST anomalies in the Gulf of Guinea during boreal summer cause strengthening of the Somali Jet, upwelling favorable winds, cold SST anomalies and a shallower than usual thermocline in the Arabian Sea. The enhanced upwelling in the Arabian Sea, in turn, causes an increase in phytoplankton concentrations. The opposite sequence is verified for warm SST anomalies in the STA region. For a 1°C STA anomaly, the increase/decrease in productivity represents by September up to 19% of the surface phytoplankton climatological values in the model, and up to 13% in the observations. The STA teleconnection contributes to the interannual variability in the Arabian Sea in boreal summer as much as the El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole.