Patterns and processes in the California Current System |
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| Authors: | David M. Checkley John A. Barth |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0218, United States;2. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States;1. Departamento de Oceanografía Física, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana 3918, Zona Playitas, 22860 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico;2. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Unidad La Paz, 334 Fraccionamiento Bella Vista, CP 23050 La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico;1. Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-1 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan;2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency (FRA), 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8648, Japan;3. Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency (FRA), 3-27-5 Shinhama, Shiogama, Miyagi 985-0001, Japan;4. Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency (FRA), Kushiro Laboratory, 116 Katsurakoi, Kushiro, Hokkaido 085-0802, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The California Current System (CCS) is forced by the distribution of atmospheric pressure and associated winds in relation to the west coast of North America. In this paper, we begin with a simplified case of winds and a linear coast, then consider variability characteristic of the CCS, and conclude by considering future change. The CCS extends from the North Pacific Current (～50°N) to off Baja California, Mexico (～15–25°N) with a major discontinuity at Point Conception (34.5°N). Variation in atmospheric pressure affects winds and thus upwelling. Coastal, wind-driven upwelling results in nutrification and biological production and a southward coastal jet. Offshore, curl-driven upwelling results in a spatially large, productive habitat. The California Current flows equatorward and derives from the North Pacific Current and the coastal jet. Dominant modes of spatial and temporal variability in physical processes and biological responses are discussed. High surface production results in deep and bottom waters depleted in oxygen and enriched in carbon dioxide. Fishing has depleted demersal stocks more than pelagic stocks, and marine mammals, including whales, are recovering. Krill, squid, and micronekton are poorly known and merit study. Future climate change will differ from past change and thus prediction of the CCS requires an understanding of its dynamics. Of particular concern are changes in winds, stratification, and ocean chemistry. |
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