The influence of the Biobio Canyon on the circulation and coastal upwelling/downwelling off central Chile

Abstract

The influence of Biobio Canyon on the circulation and coastal upwelling and downwelling was evaluated by using high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of the coastal ocean off central Chile, a highly productive zone of the Southern Humboldt Current System that supports important coastal ecosystem services. The model bathymetry was GEBCO 2020 with a spatial resolution of 500 m, which allows a relatively fine representation of the complex topography of the region. To understand the role of the Biobio Canyon, contrasting experiments were run. A Reference Simulation (RS) considering the canyon bathymetry and the Biobio River discharge, a Simulation Experiment 1 (SE1) considering only the canyon bathymetry without the Biobio River discharge, and a Simulation Experiment 2 (SE2) only with the Biobio River discharge (without the canyon). During upwelling conditions, the characteristic asymmetry in the along-canyon circulation was observed, with onshore flow over the northern side of the canyon and most of the upper water column, and offshore flow over the upstream canyon wall. In contrast, the cross-shore flow was limited to a narrow band over the northern wall of the canyon in RS and SE1 during downwelling conditions. Not many differences were detected between the RS and SE1 during both upwelling and downwelling conditions, which suggest that the canyon imposes a major effect on the circulation in comparison to the river discharge. Our results exhibit a net onshore transport onto the continental shelf during coastal upwelling and, net offshore transport restricted to the area south of the canyon during downwelling conditions. Finally, the advection of high-density waters on the northern shelf dominates during upwelling conditions in RS and SE1. Similarly, presence of the canyon promotes higher bottom density over the shelf even during downwelling conditions, as compared to the no-canyon experiment.