CalCOFI Reports, Vol. 27, 1986 - California Cooperative Oceanic ...

PETERSEN ET AL.: NEARSHORE HYDROGRAPHIC CONDITIONS AND ZOOPLANKTON BIOMASSCalCOFI Rep., Vol. XXVII, 1986ably cause vertical mixing by shear or convective(overturning) processes.Barnett and Jahn (in press), working between 8 and100 m near San Onofre, also observed a springsummerencroachment of nutrient-rich water onto theshallower parts of the shelf, and mixed, nutrient-poorwater in the upper part of the water column during falland winter. A deep pool of nitrate-rich water was alsocommon, but not always present. Eddy diffusion ofnitrogen from depth and regeneration of nutrients wereoffered as likely explanations of nearshore enrichment ,although Barnett and Jahn also considered longshoretransport of water from semipermanent upwellingcenters (e.g., Palos Verdes Peninsula, Dana Point, andSan Mateo Point) as a possible mechanism supplyingnutrients.Nearshore upwelling off southern California occursduring several months of the year and may affectprimary production by transporting nutrient-rich waterinto the euphotic zone (Kamykowski 1974; Dormanand Palmer 1981). In all cases, local winds have beenthe putative cause of nearshore upwelling off southernCalifornia (Kamykowski 1974; Dorman and Palmer1981; Dorman 1982), although other mechanisms arepossible, such as continental shelf waves or internalKelvin waves (Bowden 1983).Nearshore winds off San Diego have a strong diurnalcomponent, blowing offshore from late night to earlymorning and onshore at other hours (Dorman 1982).Mean seasonal winds at San Diego are generallytoward the east and southeast (Dorman 1982). Tropicalstorms, which occur once or twice from mid to latesummer, move north along the coast of Baja Californiacausing strong northward winds and downwelling nearthe shore (Winant 1980). Other summer wind eventscause strong southeastward wind flow and significantupwelling (Dorman and Palmer 1981). Relatively weakcoastal winds (e.g., 7 m/sec) over a narrow continentalshelf result in nearshore upwelling that is 30 times asintense as the typical open-ocean upwelling observedoff San Diego (Dorman 1982). Wind stress increaseswith distance from shore, often by a factor of three orfour (Dorman 1982). Therefore large-scale analysis ofwind data collected at offshore (beyond about 20 km)ship stations (e.g., Bakun 1975) is not representative ofnearshore winds and wind-forced processes.Storm-driven upwelling events have been observedin the nearshore zone during several months of the year(Kamykowski 1974; Dorman and Palmer 1981; thisstudy, and unpublished data). Kamykowski (1974)described a nearshore upwelling event off La Jolla,California, during February 1971. Winds of 5.5 dsec,with gusts up to 9.7 dsec, produced upwelling at astation 1 km offshore. Increased nutrients from up-welled water caused increased primary production anda phytoplankton succession that was followed for threeweeks. An average of two upwelling events occur duringsummer months in the southern part of the bight(Dorman and Palmer 1981). Nearshore upwellingevents produce strong cross-shelf gradients in nutrients,temperature, and, probably, zooplanktondistribution patterns. These gradients are within approximately10 km of the shore and are created by conditionsthat do not cause strong offshore mesoscaleupwelling.El Nino Conditions in the Nearshore ZoneThe most significant long-term phenomenon observedduring sampling was the El Nifio event thatbegan in the tropical Pacific in 1982 (Philander 1983).This was an exceptionally strong meteorological andoceanographic event that produced very warm surfacewaters throughout the Central and Eastern TropicalPacific Ocean. Anomalous, large-scale atmosphericcirculation presumably caused warm ocean conditionsoff the coast of California and Mexico during the 1982-83 El Nifio (Lynn 1983; Simpson 1983, 1984a, 1984b).Unusually warm temperatures were first observed atoffshore stations in the California Current during thefall of 1982, with full development of large-scalewarming by January 1983 (Auer 1982-83; Simpson1983) and persistence of the phenomenon to at leastJanuary 1984 (McGowan 1984; Simpson 1984a).Monthly mean sea level, an indicator of an El Nifioevent, was about 0.2 m above the long-term mean atScripps Pier during the fall of 1982 (Dykstra and Sonu1985), signifying the beginning of this El Nifio event.Nearshore processes that mix cool, deep water withsurface water presumably created a complex temperaturesignal close to the shore during the 1982-83 ElNifio (Figure 3). During the first few months of the ElNifio event (fall 1982) , surface temperatures measuredat Scripps Pier and on our nearshore transects werenear normal or slightly above normal (North 1985).Surface temperatures were 1°-2"C above normal in thefirst few months of 1983 (Dayton and Tegner 1984).During spring and summer of 1983, nearshore surfacetemperatures were again near normal. The strongestnearshore development of El Niiio conditions wasobserved during fall 1983 and again during spring andsummer 1984; surface temperature was a little warmerthan average during the winter of 1983-84, with somesignificant events of below-normal cold water (North1985). Thus periods of near-normal hydrographic conditions(surface temperature and presumably other variables)were imposed upon the strong El Nifio nearshore,and the near-normal temperatures during part of1983 were probably the result of intense nearshore48