The effects of a winter upwelling on biogeochemical and planktonic components in an area close to the Galician Upwelling Core: The Sound of Corcubión (NW Spain)

2 pages, 2 figures.-- XI Simposio Internacional de Oceanografía del Golfo de Bizkaia, 1-4 de abril de 2008, San SebastiánCoastal upwelling systems have been largely studied because of its biological importance. Upwelling re-fertilize superficial levels of water increasing the biological productivity of the coastal zones in the main world upwelling systems (Di Lorenzo, 2003; Nixon and Thomas, 2001). The northernmost limit of the North Atlantic Upwelling System is the NW Iberian upwelling zone. The Galician Coast is fertilized during spring- summer by upwelling events of nutrient-rich Eastern North Atlantic Central Water mass (ENACW, Fraga, 1981; Fiuza et al., 1998) favoured by north winds flowing along the coast (Blanton et al., 1984). During autumn and winter, continental runoff is the dominant nutrient supply (Dale et al., 2004). Spring-summer upwelling is a typical feature in the Galician Coast, and has been detailed described in the Galician Coast (Alvarez-Salgado et al., 1993). However the persistence of NE winds blowing at shelf during the wet season can also produce coastal upwelling events which importance have only recently been characterized from a hydrographic point of view (Alvarez et al., 2003). On the contrary, the biogeochemical andphytoplankton patterns related to these out of season upwellingevents is still poorly known (Prego et al., 2007). In this studywe investigate the consequences of a winter upwelling on biogeochemical and phytoplankton patterns in the Sound of Corcubion, an area close to the Galician upwelling core located near Cape FinisterreThis study has been supported by the Spanish CICYT Project “Reconocimiento Oceanográfico en la época de floración primaveral en la zona de Cabo Finisterre (Galicia, Costa de La Muerte)” in relation to the Prestige oil spillN