Xa. Alvarezsalgado et al., HYDROGRAPHIC VARIABILITY OFF THE RIAS BAIXAS (NW SPAIN) DURING THE UPWELLING SEASON, J GEO RES-O, 98(C8), 1993, pp. 14447-14455
During the Galicia X cruise, from May to October 1989 an intensive col
lection of hydrographic data was carried out at a single station on th
e shelf off the western coast of Galicia. It allows us to follow the r
esponse of the water column to the intermittent equatorward wind stres
s during the upwelling season. Upwelling events occur with biweekly pe
riodicity, bringing Eastern North Atlantic Water (ENAW) to the subsurf
ace layer at our station. A trend of the thermohaline properties of th
e upwelled water to increase in time was observed. This seems to be mo
stly due to the southwestward displacement of the origin of this water
mass during the year. Although the saltier and warmer ENAW is less nu
trient-rich, nutrient levels increase because of the rapid remineraliz
ation of organic matter from the Rias, which takes place in the bottom
water on the shelf.