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Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar

Includes bibliographical references.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Braby, Laura
Other Authors: Ansorge, Isabelle Jane
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Oceanography 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Braby, Laura
author2 Ansorge, Isabelle Jane
author_browse Ansorge, Isabelle Jane
Braby, Laura
author_facet Ansorge, Isabelle Jane
Braby, Laura
author_sort Braby, Laura
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9213
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:12.136Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher Department of Oceanography
publisherStr Department of Oceanography
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9213 Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar Braby, Laura Ansorge, Isabelle Jane Backeberg, Bjorn Christoph Roberts, Michael J Ocean and Climate Dynamics Includes bibliographical references. Several species of marine organisms occurring off the southern African coast have been found to be identical to those occurring in the Madagascan coastal water although the reason for this is unknown. It has been proposed that eddies act as a vector of transport for planktonic larvae from the Madagascar island to the southern African east coast. In this study it is shown that eddies spawned off southern Madagascar entrain chlorophyll-a rich coastal waters into their periphery. This is indicative of the mechanism whereby organisms could become entrained in eddies. Approximately one eddy per year, usually cyclonic, interacts with the southern Madagascan coast, then from its origin crosses the southern Mozambique Channel and arrives at the African coast where it dissipates. By tracking eddies and combining their trajectories with drifter data and satellite remote sensing observations of ocean colour, it is shown that chlorophyll-a rich waters are entrained within the eddies, and these waters are mostly conserved during their passage across the channel. This study suggests that biota may be transported from Madagascar to Africa in eddies, providing further evidence that eddies are potentially a viable mechanism for the transport of organisms across the southern Mozambique Channel. 2014-11-05T03:58:14Z 2014-11-05T03:58:14Z 2014 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9213 eng application/pdf Department of Oceanography Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Ocean and Climate Dynamics
Braby, Laura
Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
title_full Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
title_fullStr Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
title_full_unstemmed Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
title_short Dynamics, interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of Madagascar
title_sort dynamics interactions and ecosystem implications of mesoscale eddies formed in the southern region of madagascar
topic Ocean and Climate Dynamics
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9213
work_keys_str_mv AT brabylaura dynamicsinteractionsandecosystemimplicationsofmesoscaleeddiesformedinthesouthernregionofmadagascar