Nutrient enrichment of Jervis Bay, Australia, during the massive 1992 coccolithophorid bloom

Abstract

A numerical simulation of the East Australian Current (EAC) has been used to investigate the nutrification of shelf waters at Jervis Bay, south-eastern Australia, prior to the massive coccolithophorid bloom that was first observed on 16 December 1992. The simulation suggests that a small cold-core eddy developed between the continental slope at Jervis Bay and the EAC jet further offshore during 7 and 14 December 1992. This unstable cold-core eddy is likely to have uplifted cold, nutrient-rich water onto the Jervis Bay shelf, and this upwelling, in combination with upwelling-favourable winds, probably transported nutrients from the deep ocean to the entrance of the bay.