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ABSTRACT. Relationships between phytoplankton production and biomass and upper ocean stability and mixing depth were analysed using data obtained on 3 cruises to the Prince Edward Islands. Bloom concentrations of chlorophyll a occurred over a wide range of mixed layer depths, from 20 to 130 m. A relatively low percentage of total biomass variance was accounted for by the degree of vertical stability. Conversely, the dominant source of var~ation responsible for observed differences in the meso-scale distribution of production variables (integrated production rate and photosynthet~c capacity) was strongly related to the vert~cal structure of the water-column. It is suggested that the h~g h levels of freshwater run-off from the islands are retained in the ~nter-island region by an anticyclonic eddy field. This would result in a local increase in vertical stability with consequent enhanced primary production.

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