Coastal upwelling along the northern beaches of the north Carolina coast

Coastal upwelling occurs when coast-parallel winds drive surface waters offshore causing cold, nutrient rich, water to displace warm surface water. If seasonally persistent, these events and their associated blooms of microorganisms can ultimately lead to a transient enrichment of local marine life, but also have the potential to produce subsequent depressed levels of dissolved oxygen due to increased rates of organic consumption and decay. The anoxic conditions thus created can be very harmful to indigenous benthic biota. This study examines sea surface temperature image data to determine the presence of upwelling events along the coastline of North Carolina, specifically at Cape Hatteras and Duck Pier, and establishes correlation with archived wind data and topographic highs as revealed by the most current NOAA Hydrographic charts of the two locations. The wind direction and average wind speed were found to be good indicators of upwelling events. However, wind direction was found to have greater influence on the occurrence of coastal upwelling. The portion of the North Carolina coast, from Cape Hatteras to Duck Pier, is oriented slightly.. southeast to northwest; therefore, coastal upwelling were driven by seasonal winds out of the South to Southeast. There exist a highly significant correlation between upwelling events and persistent wind direction as well as with topographic highs, which are means to alert marine authorities, marine agricultural interests, and the public to the possible risk of anoxic events which might do considerable harm to the local shell or sport fishing industry. The results of this study conducted as a part of the Office of Naval Research Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) in ocean and marine science will he presented.