The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a feature that results from the ocean-atmosphere interactions in the tropics around the world. The ITCZ is characterized by surface wind convergence, tall storm clouds, and it forms a belt of high time-averaged precipitation around the globe. The ITCZ undergoes seasonal migrations between 5°S and 15°N roughly following the subsolar point on Earth with the seasons, with a mean annual position located slightly above the Equator, between 2° and 5°N. This study tested the hypothesis that there was a northward shift in the median position of the ITCZ in the first decade of the 2000’s relative to the 1900’s. This hypothesis has been posed in the literature given a weakening in the intensity of the Trade Winds observed in the southern Caribbean Sea during the first decade of the 2000’s, with concomitant ecological impacts due to weakening in coastal wind-driven upwelling. The hypothesis was tested by analyzing variations in the monthly latitudinal position of the ITCZ over the Atlantic Ocean relative to the median position computed for the period 1987-2011. The position of the ITCZ was derived from satellite-derived ocean surface wind measurements collected from 1987 to 2011. A Mann-Kendall analysis and a Monte Carlo simulation were used to test for trends in the median cross-basin latitudinal position of the ITCZ. The study included an analysis of regional changes across the tropical central Atlantic (50°W to 15°W), the Western Atlantic (50°W to 30°W), and the Eastern Atlantic (30°W to 15°W) within the tropics. The results show a slight southward trend in the median position of the ITCZ over the central Atlantic and also in the Eastern Atlantic in the first decade of the 2000’s relative to the 1990’s. While this trend is barely significant, it is likely simply due to interannual variation in the average annual position of the ITCZ. The data were also examined for the timing and persistence of a double ITCZ in the Atlantic. The double ITCZ over the Atlantic appeared every year in February or March, with the largest separation between the northern and southern branches of the ITCZ observed in June and July. The possible effects of changes in the average latitudinal position of the ITCZ on the upwelling in the Cariaco Basin (southeastern Caribbean Sea off Venezuela) were also examined. Anomalies of the median of the latitudinal position of the ITCZ in the Atlantic were compared with anomalies of in-situ temperature collected during the 1990’s and the first decade of the 2000’s by the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series program and with anomalies of satellite SST (from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite; AVHRR) from 1995 to 2016. Correlation analysis were performed between anomalies of water temperatures at various depths and anomalies of satellite SST with anomalies of the monthly mean ITCZ position with lags up to 3 months for the time series, and also just for the Cariaco basin upwelling months (December-April). For the whole Cariaco time series there were no significant correlations between the anomalies of the ITCZ position and anomalies in subsurface temperatures in the Cariaco Basin. However, during the upwelling period, the central Atlantic and Western Atlantic ITCZ position anomalies were directly correlated with Cariaco Basin temperature anomalies with no-lag (r = 0.20), and the central and Eastern Atlantic ITCZ position anomalies were inversely correlated with Cariaco Basin temperatures (r ~ -0.22 to -0.28) with ITCZ leading Cariaco temperatures by 3 months. However, these correlations were low, indicating that other factors than the position of ITCZ latitudinal position play bigger role on the Cariaco basin upwelling variability. Interannual variability in oceanographic and meteorological characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean are expected as a result of large-scale changes in other regions of the world, including due to changes such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Six oceanic-atmospheric variables are used to monitor ENSO over the tropical Pacific, while the AMO is determined by monitoring SST over the Atlantic. Correlations with lags of up to ± 6 months were conducted with those climate indices and the anomalies of the median monthly latitudinal position of the ITCZ. Significant direct correlations with ENSO (Multivariate ENSO Index) were seen in the Atlantic and Western Atlantic (r = 0.15), with ENSO leading the position of the ITCZ anomalies by 3 months. This implies that within three months after an El Niño event (warm ENSO anomaly in the Pacific) the ITCZ over the mid-Atlantic and Western Atlantic Ocean tends to shift to a more northerly position. The AMO also had a direct influence on the anomalies of the ITCZ position (r = 0.13) in the Central and the Western Atlantic, with the AMO leading ITCZ anomalies by 1 month (i.e. a warming of the North Atlantic led to a northward shift in the ITCZ one month later). Correlations between AMO and the ITCZ anomalies in the Eastern Atlantic were also direct but with no lag. Although significant, these correlations were low. An inverse correlation (~ -0.35) was found between ENSO and anomalies of water temperature of the Cariaco Basin. ENSO lagged ocean temperature anomalies by 3 to 4 months for both the whole Cariaco time series and for the upwelling months of CARIACO data. Correlations with AMO were direct (~ 0.4); for the whole time series AMO led Cariaco temperature anomalies by 3 months, but for the upwelling months AMO lagged Cariaco temperature anomalies by one month.

The Southern Caribbean Sea experiences a strong upwelling process along the coast from about 61°W to 75.5°W and 10-13°N. In this dissertation three aspects of this upwelling system are examined: (A) A mid-year secondary upwelling that was previously observed in the southeastern Caribbean Sea between June-July, when land based stations show a decrease in wind speed. The presence and effects of this upwelling along the whole southern Caribbean upwelling system were evaluated, as well as the relative forcing contribution of alongshore winds (Ekman Transport, ET) and wind-curl (Ekman Pumping, EP). (B) Stronger upwelling occurs in two particular regions, namely the eastern (63-65°W) and western (70-73°W) upwelling areas. However, the eastern area has higher fish biomass than the western area (78% and 18%, respectively, of the total small pelagic biomass of the southern Caribbean upwelling system). The upwelling dynamics along the southern Caribbean margin was studied to understand those regional variations on fish biomass. (C) The most important fishery in the eastern upwelling area off Venezuela is the Spanish sardine (Sardinella aurita). The sardine artisanal fishery is protected and only takes place up to ~10 km offshore. The effects of the upwelling cycle on the spatial distribution of S. aurita were studied. The main sources of data were satellite observations of sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (Chl) and wind (ET and EP), in situ observations from the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series program, sardine biomass from 8 hydroacoustics surveys (1995-1998), and temperature profiles from the World Ocean Atlas 2005 used to calculate the depth of the Subtropical Underwater core (traced by the 22°C isotherm). The most important results of the study were as follows: (A) The entire upwelling system has a mid-year upwelling event between June-August, besides the primary upwelling process of December-April. This secondary event is short-lived (~5 weeks) and ~1.5°C warmer than the primary upwelling. Together, both upwelling events lead to about 8 months of cooler waters (-3, averaged from the coast to 100 km offshore) in the region. Satellite nearshore wind (~25 km offshore) remained high in the eastern upwelling area (> 6 m s-1) and had a maximum in the western area (~10 m s-1) producing high offshore ET during the mid-year upwelling (vertical transport of 2.4 - 3.8 m3 s-1 per meter of coastline, for the eastern and western areas, respectively). Total coastal upwelling transport was mainly caused by ET (~90%). However, at a regional scale, there was intensification of the wind curl during June as well; as a result open-sea upwelling due to EP causes isopycnal shoaling of deeper waters enhancing the coastal upwelling. (B) The eastern and western upwelling areas had upwelling favorable winds all year round. Minimum / maximum offshore ET (from weekly climatologies) were 1.52 / 4.36 m3 s-1 per meter, for the western upwelling area; and 1.23 / 2.63 m3 s-1 per meter, for the eastern area. The eastern and western upwelling areas showed important variations in their upwelling dynamics. Annual averages in the eastern area showed moderate wind speeds (6.12 m s-1), shallow 22°C isotherm (85 m), cool SSTs (25.24°C), and phytoplankton biomass of 1.65 mg m-3. The western area has on average stronger wind speeds (8.23 m s-1) but a deeper 22°C isotherm (115 m), leading to slightly warmer SSTs (25.53°C) and slightly lower phytoplankton biomass (1.15 mg m-3). We hypothesize that the factors that most inhibits fish production in the western upwelling area are the high level of wind-induced turbulence and the strong offshore ET. (C) Hydroacoustics values of Sardinella aurita biomass (sAsardine) and the number of small pelagics schools collected in the eastern upwelling region off northeast Venezuela were compared with environmental variables (satellite products of SST, SST gradients, and Chl -for the last two cruises-) and spatial variables (distance to upwelling foci and longitude-latitude). These data were examined using Generalized Additive Models. During the strongest upwelling season (February-March) sAsardine was widely distributed in the cooler, Chl rich upwelling plumes over the wide (~70km) continental shelf. During the weakest upwelling season (September-October) sAsardine was collocated with the higher Chl (1-3 mg m-3) found within the first 10 km from the upwelling foci; this increases Spanish sardine availability (and possibly the catchability) for the artisanal fishery. These results imply that during prolonged periods of weak upwelling the environmentally stressed (due to food scarceness) Spanish sardine population would be closer to the coast and more available to the fishery, which could easily turn into overfishing. After two consecutive years of weak upwelling (2004-2005) Spanish sardine fishery crashed and as of 2011 has not recovered to previous yield; however during 2004 a historical capture peak occurred. We hypothesize that this Spanish sardine collapse was caused by a combination of sustained stressful environmental conditions and of overfishing, due to the increased catchability of the stock caused by aggregation of the fish in the cooler coastal upwelling cells during the anomalous warm upwelling season.