Abstract
Wind-driven mixing and Ekman pumping from slow-moving tropical cyclones
(TCs) can bring nutrients to the euphotic zone, promoting phytoplankton
blooms (TC-PBs) observable by satellite remote sensing. We examine an
exceptional (z-score = 18-48) TC-PB induced by category-1 Cyclone Oma
near the South Pacific island of Vanuatu in February 2019, the most
extreme event in the observed satellite record of South Pacific surface
Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a). Examining 15 South Pacific TC-PBs since 1997, we
identify a “hover” parameter derivable from storm track data correlated
with post-TC surface Chl-a (r=0.83). Using a dataset of synthetic storm
tracks, we show revisit times for South Pacific TC-PBs are O(250) years,
and O(1,500) years for Oma-scale TC-PBs. The episodic, extreme, but
consistent nature of such events means they may imprint on sediment
records. If so, we show their signature could be used to reconstruct
past TC variability.