Changes in the growth and drift of Sargassum from one year to the next are mainly controlled by patterns of regional winds and currents rather than warming or nutrient river inputs as previously thought”
says Dr Nikolaos Skliris, Senior SARTRAC Research Fellow within Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton.
“Our research in SARTRAC focuses on these two relatively unexplored physical drivers for Sargassum proliferation in the Tropical Atlantic: the convergence of winds and re-circulation of currents which lead to accumulations of Sargassum and which trap nutrients driving optimal conditions for Sargassum growth.
Over the next two years we aim to quantify the variable partitioning between Sargassum that is westward-bound to the Caribbean and eastward-bound to west Africa in order to establish a reliable seasonal forecast system of Sargassum growth and drift across the Tropical Atlantic.”