Modulations in vertical stability trigger intraseasonal variations in phytoplankton bloom

<p>Seasonal surface chlorophyll (SChl) blooms are very chaotic in nature, but traditional bloom paradigms have climbed out of these intraseasonal/subseasonal variations. Here we quantify these intraseasonal fluctuations and explore the links between the surface bloom and vertical stability at intraseasonal timescales, along the spring bloom region of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. We use 8-day merged ocean color SChl product distributed by the European Space Agency Ocean Color Climate Change Initiative (ESA OC-CCI), in situ data from the long-term time series BOUSSOLE, wind stress and heat flux from ERA-Interim reanalysis. The 8-day SChl product from ESA OC-CCI has excellent data coverage in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Comparison with the high frequency in situ data from the BOUSSOLE mooring shows that the satellite and in situ SChl products are reliable at the subseasonal timescale. Our results reveal that intraseasonal variability explains nearly half of the SChl variability in the bloom region and occur at smaller spatial scales (~100 km). We demonstrate that weekly SChl fluctuations are in phase with weekly changes in wind stress and net heat flux during the initial state of the bloom in winter and early spring, thus expanding the convection shutdown hypothesis of bloom onset to subseasonal timescales. We postulate that intermittency in vertical stability due to short-term episodes of calm weather in winter or to stormy conditions in early spring leads to short-term variations in light exposure or to events of vertical dilution, and to strong intermittency in phytoplankton bloom.</p>