Deconstructing co-occurring marine heatwave and phytoplankton bloom events in the Arkona Sea in 2018

Abstract

Between May and August 2018, two separate marine heatwaves (MHWs) occurred in the Arkona Sea in the western Baltic Sea. These heatwaves bookended an extended period of phytoplankton growth in the region. Data from the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) on board the European Sentinel-3 satellite revealed an eddy-like structure containing high chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentrations (ca. 25 mg.m-3) persisting for several days at the end of May in the Arkona Sea. Combining ocean colour observations, a coupled bio-optical ocean model and a particle tracking model, we examined the three dimensional relationship between these co-occurring MHW and phytoplankton bloom events. We find that the onset of the MHW in May provided the optimal conditions for phytoplankton growth, i.e. sufficient light and nutrients. Wind-driven surface eddy circulation, geostrophic eddy stirring and transient submesoscale dynamics along the edges of the eddy provided a transport path for nutrient fluxes and carbon export, and helped to sustain the phytoplankton bloom. The bloom may have indirectly had an enhancing effect on the MHW, through the impact of water constituent-induced heating rates on air-sea energy fluxes. The subsurface signature of the MHW plays a critical role in de-coupling surface and subsurface dynamics and terminating the phytoplankton bloom. Subsurface temperature anomalies of up to 8°C between 15 and 20 m depth are found to persist up to 15 days after the surface signature of the MHW has disappeared. The study reveals how surface and subsurface dynamics of MHWs and phytoplankton blooms are connected under different environmental conditions. It extends our knowledge on surface layer processes obtained from satellite data.