Variability of the Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front and Its Relationship to Large-Scale Climate Phenomena

The Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front (TZCF) is considered a foraging corridor for many commercially important predator species in the North Pacific, including tunas and swordfish, as well as for protected turtles. Here we use nearly three decades of satellite remotely sensed ocean color data to characterize the trends and variability of the TZCF properties, including its location, west/east slope, and the degree of its meandering, and investigate the relationships of these properties with large-scale climate phenomena in the tropics and in the North Pacific. The study extends our previous understanding of the TZCF variability and its linkage to the large-scale climate modes, providing a more robust basis to explore climate impacts on the fisheries linked to TZCF variability in the Northeast Pacific.

Shi, H., Rykaczewski, R. R., Wren, J. L. K., Woodworth-Jefcoats, P., Suca, J. J., Domokos, R., O’Malley, J. M., & Kobayashi, D. (2025). Variability of the transition zone chlorophyll front and its relationship to large-scale climate phenomena. Progress in Oceanography, 237, 103537. doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2025.103537