Coastal-to-offshore submesoscale horizontal stirring enhances wintertime phytoplankton blooms in the ultra-oligotrophic  Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Fadida, Yotam; Verma, Vicky; Barkan, Roy; Biton, Eli; Solodoch, Aviv; Lehahn, Yoav

doi:10.5194/os-22-329-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-329-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-329-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

Research article

|

02 Feb 2026

Research article |

| 02 Feb 2026

Coastal-to-offshore submesoscale horizontal stirring enhances wintertime phytoplankton blooms in the ultra-oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Yotam Fadida, Vicky Verma, Roy Barkan, Eli Biton, Aviv Solodoch, and Yoav Lehahn

Data sets

Mediterranean Sea, Bio-Geo-Chemical, L4, monthly means, daily gapfree and climatology Satellite Observations (1997-ongoing) E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00300

European Seas Gridded L 4 Sea Surface Heights And Derived Variables Nrt E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00142

Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Hindcast E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00019

Model code and software

Coastal and Regional Ocean COmmunity model (2.1.2) Francis Auclair et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17642275

Short summary

In the ultra-oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean, winter phytoplankton blooms are enhanced by submesoscale horizontal stirring. Satellite data and simulations show these currents transport chlorophyll-rich coastal waters offshore, contributing ~24.8 % to the seasonal surface chlorophyll increase. This highlights the key role of horizontal processes in bloom dynamics and ecosystem regulation.