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A possible plankton wave in the Indian Ocean
Author(s) -
Srokosz Meric A.,
Quartly Graham D.,
Buck Justin J. H.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl019738
Subject(s) - plankton , rossby wave , geology , oceanography , indian ocean , monsoon , latitude , climatology , satellite , geodesy , physics , astronomy
The existence of waves in oceanic plankton populations has been conjectured on theoretical grounds. We report the first open ocean observations of a possible plankton wave in the Indian Ocean, seen in satellite ocean colour data. The chlorophyll feature travels from west to east, in the opposite direction to the mean flow and the Rossby wave and eddy propagation direction. For the strongest observed event, in February to April 1999, the wave propagates in the latitude band ∼22–30°S away from Madagascar and dies out at ∼75°E.