On the plankton front waves accelerated by marine turbulence

The horizontal dynamics of a single plankton 'patch' in an ocean is conside red theoretically in terms of semi-empirical turbulent diffusion equation t aking into account scale dependence of turbulent diffusivity. Both one-dime nsional and two-dimensional cases are considered, for a one-species 1-D mod el exact formula for the size of the patch vs. time is obtained. For a 2-D case, an expression for the critical radius of plankton patch is derived. V alidity of turbulent diffusion equation and comparison with experimental re sults are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.