ON THE OFFSHORE DISPERSAL OF THE AMAZON PLUME IN THE NORTH-ATLANTIC -COMMENTS

Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) satellite images show extensive plum es of discolored water extending from South America into the western t ropical Atlantic. The most conspicuous plumes originate at the mouths of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, and plumes originating at smaller ri vers can also be seen from space. In a recent paper by Longhurst (1993 ), the plume associated with the Amazon River was attributed to phytop lankton blooms stimulated by nutrients supplied via eddy upwelling. We revisit the argument that this plume is of riverine origin, and offer evidence that material present near continental margins can be advect ed offshore and trace circulation patterns in the adjacent ocean.