PHY-01 The Arctic Ocean: Physics, climate & ecosystem
The role of frontal dynamics in phytoplankton distributions in the Norwegian Sea slope region
Yanlin Wang* , School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Zhaoru Zhang, School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Yisen Zhong, School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Meng Zhou, School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Sünnje Basedow, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø
Walker Smith, School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

The slope and shelf regions of the Norwegian Sea is featured by high biological productivity that supports biomass of high-trophic-level predators and fishery. The main currents in the Norwegian Sea are the Norwegian Atlantic Slope Current carrying warm and saline water from the Atlantic, and the Norwegian Coastal Current carrying cold and fresh water along the coast. The Atlantic water and coastal water are topographically steered at the slope of the Norwegian Sea, forming a sharp density front corresponding to a strong slope current system. In spring 2019, we conducted a cruise in the Norwegian Sea shelf and slope region, and made high-resolution measurements across the shelf and slope using a moving vessel profiler (MVP) carrying coupled physical-biological sensors. It is found that chlorophyll maximum occurs at the surface offshore of the slope front and at the subsurface inshore of the front, which is related to the frontal sub-mesoscale processes and secondary circulations. Instability of the front favors the generation of eddies and high chlorophyll concentrations are observed within cyclonic eddies. The high-resolution hydrographic data are combined with ADCP measurements to characterize the dynamical properties associated with the frontal mesoscale and sub-mesoscale processes.