Caracterização de feições oceanográficas na plataforma de Santa Catarina através de imagens orbitais

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The objective of this paper is to characterize surface small and meso-scale oceanographic features in the Santa Catarina continental shelf, Brazil. The features were identified using MODIS satellite imagery of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface chlorophyll (SSC). One daily image was selected for each month of the year 2003, excepting December, aiming to search for seasonality. The oceanographic features were identified by visual inspection, applying different levels of contrast and color palettes to improve the visualization. The features identified were distinguished in eddies, meanders, mushroom like features, plumes, filaments, fronts and upwelling areas. The results indicated that during the summer, the continental shelf is homogeneous with few surface features. The most prominent feature during summer period (January to March) was the upwelling area nearby Santa Marta Cape, southern from Florianópolis Island. During the fall and winter seasons there were more surface features, mainly due to the evolution of the Prata Front system, with smaller SST and higher SSC.

Kelps’ Long-Distance Dispersal: Role of Ecological/Oceanographic Processes and Implications to Marine Forest Conservation

“…However, it points towards probable refuge regions, interestingly, in lower latitudes, far from regions previously recognized with "optimum" environmental conditions, extrapolating their suitable habitats also to other temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere. The regional cooling of coastal environments observed in the southwestern Atlantic warm temperate province southern edge [55,65] corroborate the niche suitability described for the south of Brazil and Uruguay. The range extension of the South African kelp, Ecklonia maxima, was also ascribed to a regional cooling process [56].…”

“…This is also where the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) current is formed ( Figure 1). The nutrient rich, low temperature current intrudes the shallower strata near the continental shelf and is responsible for the common upwelling phenomena, over a 27 km section of the coast [65], from the southern region of Santa Catarina Island (27 • 35 S) to the Cape Santa Marta (28 • 37 S) [62,66]. During austral winters, this area is influenced by the La Plata river plume, which increases nutrients, and the Sub-Antarctic currents, which reduce the temperatures [67,68].…”

Phosphorites of the Brazilian Continental Margin, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

“…The Florianópolis Shelf and Rio Grande Terrace are located on the southern continental margin of Brazil strongly influenced by different water masses causing gradients of temperature, salinity and dissolved O 2 concentration, among other oceanographic parameters. The South Atlantic Central Water -SACW (Sverdrup et al, 1942), that moves towards south southwest following the continental shelf break and continental slope, between 200 and 500 m deep, is rich in nutrients and oxygen, and may have seasonal flows toward the continental shelf (Castro Filho & Miranda, 1998) favoring the upwelling occurrence (Pereira et al, 2009). The region is also influenced by the Malvinas current that moves towards north northeast and is responsible for the supply of inorganic nutrients to shallower regions, close to the mainland.…”

On a new genus and species of Hemicytheridae (Ostracoda, Crustacea) from the southern Brazilian coast

“…Most of the southern and southeastern coast of Brazil, including the sampled region, presents micro-tidal regime (amplitude ≤ 2 m), and is inserted in the Southeast Coastal Region (Cabo Frio -Cabo de Santa Marta), formed mainly by sandy beaches with intermittent rocky spits (CoutinHo, 2000;tessler & goya, 2005). According to Pereira et al (2009), the seawater average surface temperature ranges from 21° to 24°C in the months of April and May, during which the fieldwork was conducted (see HesP et al, 2009 for additional information on the study area).…”