Satellite color observations of the phytoplankton distribution in the eastern Equatorial Pacific during the 1982-1983 El Nino

Images provided by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) onboard Nimbus-7 show the effect of the 1982-1983 El Nino upon the phytoplankton distribution around the Galapagos Islands, located on the equator. The CZCS scenes document a major redistribution of phytoplankton around the Galapagos Island during a period when sea-surface temperatures (SST) were anomalously high (28 to 29 C). The mixed layer was unusually thick for this region, and the winds and both the surface and subsurface flows changed directions. It is pointed out that the El Nino is characterized as one of the most spectacular examples of a large-amplitude, interannual response of the ocean to atmospheric forcing. The 1982-1983 El Nino is the best documented event of its kind to date, and details of its effects are discussed.