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Philip Sura 《Ocean Dynamics》2010,60(1):155-170
This paper examines the physics of observed non-Gaussian sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly variability in the Gulf Stream system in a recently developed stochastic framework. It is first shown from a new high-resolution observational data set that the Gulf Stream system is very clearly visible as a band of negative skewness all the way from Florida, over Cape Hatteras, to the central North Atlantic. To get an idea about the detailed non-Gaussian variability along the Gulf Stream, probability density functions are calculated at several locations. One important observational result of this study is that the non-Gaussian tails of SST variability in the Gulf Stream system follow a power-law distribution. The study then shows that the observed non-Gaussianity is consistent with stochastic advection of SST anomalies in an idealized zonal current. In addition, stochastic advection is compatible with the observed northward eddy heat flux in the Gulf Stream, providing a new dynamical view at the heat balance in strong currents.  相似文献   

3.
The distribution and abundance of bacteria and phytoplankton on the continental shelf of the southeastern United States were observed in relation to physical processes. Phytoplankton production was influenced by inputs of water of reduced salinity from the estuaries and by inputs of high salinity, low-temperature water from the west front of the Gulf Stream. The distribution of chlorophyll suggests that in each case production is influenced both by inputs of nutrients and by the enhanced vertical stability associated with the stratification of waters of different densities. The standing stock of bacteria on the inner shelf, 106 ml?1, is little changed by the influx of water of reduced salinity. On the outer shelf, where the usual standing stock of bacteria is 105 ml?1, the numbers increase to 106 ml?1 in and above intrusions of Gulf Stream water in which phytoplankton blooms have developed, suggesting that the bacteria respond to products of both phytoplankton and zooplankton production. Adenylate energy charge values in the waters of the southeastern shelf are variable and volatile. At times values of 0.7 to 0.8 are widespread over most of the shelf, while at other times values <0.6 are common, with localized patches of high values. Both autotroph-dominated and heterotroph-dominated microbial communities show these variations.  相似文献   

4.
Summary Eleven STD stations by lowering and raising the sensor were occupied about 170 n. miles northeast of Cape Hatteras in June, 1968. The stations were located in the slope water region covered by the upper warm water from the Gulf Stream. Power spectra of temperature and salinity fluctuations at 1-meter depth intervals were computed versus vertical wave numbers for the upper layer (5–320 m) and lower layer (320–1000 m) at each station. The power law coefficients of the spectra about the vertical wave number are between –5/3 and –3. These coefficients indicate that the temperature and salinity fluctuations are influenced by stratification as well as by turbulence.  相似文献   

5.
A three-dimensional mesoscale numerical model is used to investigate mesoscale circulation over a Gulf Stream filament. Two numerical experiments are performed with different initial uniform ambient wind speeds (U=0.1 m s–1, 3.5 m s–1 and 7 m s–1) for a typical winter day. It is found that for both low and moderate winds, a closed mesoscale circulation forms over the Gulf Stream filament. When the Gulf Stream filament was removed, the model did not predict a mesoscale circulation. The modeled circulation over the filament is in agreement with the observations, suggesting that the atmospheric circulations over the filaments may be an important mechanism in the U.S. East Coast cyclogenesis.  相似文献   

6.
Results of microstructure measurements conducted in October–November of 2015 as a part of the Coupled Air Sea Processes and Electromagnetic Ducting Research (CASPER) project are discussed. The measurements were taken on the North Carolina shelf and across the Gulf Stream front. On the shelf, the oceanic stratification was influenced by highly variable surface salinity and along-bottom advection. Vertical mixing was mostly governed by variable winds. The vertical eddy diffusivity was estimated using the VMP-based dissipation measurements, and the diffusivity values obtained during calm periods and stormy winds were compared. Parameterization of the diffusivity for various mesoscale dynamical conditions is discussed in terms of shear instabilities and internal wave-generated turbulence based on data obtained in deep waters of the Gulf Stream and on the continental slope.  相似文献   

7.
Observations suggest that the interannual variability of wintertime convection in Wilkinson Basin (WB) during 1977–2005 is related to the variation in the surface layer salinity in the western Gulf of Maine (wGOM). When the winter convection is stronger (weaker), the resulting deep-layer temperatures in the wGOM are colder (warmer), and the likelihood of deep winter mixing is greater when the wGOM salinities are high. This hypothesis was tested using a one-dimensional mixed layer model to simulate the water column structure over the cooling period. Comparisons were made between the convection potential for the range of observed late-fall salinity values. Model results indicated that the mixed layer depth could deepen by as much as 50% when the surface layer salinities in the wGOM were high. Sensitivity tests revealed that the surface layer salinity variability, and its influence on the water column density structure, was a significant factor, along with local climate variability, in determining the observed time series trend in springtime bottom layer temperatures.  相似文献   

8.

We present a binned annual product (BINS) of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), and sea surface density (SSD) observations for 1896–2015 of the subpolar North Atlantic between 40° N and 70° N, mostly excluding the shelf areas. The product of bin averages over spatial scales on the order of 200 to 500 km, reproducing most of the interannual variability in different time series covering at least the last three decades or of the along-track ship monitoring. Comparisons with other SSS and SST gridded products available since 1950 suggest that BINS captures the large decadal to multidecadal variability. Comparison with the HadSST3 SST product since 1896 also indicates that the decadal and multidecadal variability is usually well-reproduced, with small differences in long-term trends or in areas with marginal data coverage in either of the two products. Outside of the Labrador Sea and Greenland margins, interannual variability is rather similar in different seasons. Variability at periods longer than 15 years is a large part of the total interannual variability, both for SST and SSS, except possibly in the south-western part of the domain. Variability in SST and SSS increases towards the west, with the contribution of salinity variability to density dominating that of temperature in the western Atlantic, except close to the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current in the southwest area. Weaker variability and larger relative temperature contributions to density changes are found in the eastern part of the gyre and south of Iceland.

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9.
Hydrographic variability on the Alabama shelf just outside of Mobile Bay, a major source of river discharge into the Gulf of Mexico, is examined using time series of water column temperature and surface and bottom salinity from a mooring site with a depth of 20 m in conjunction with a series of across-shelf CTD surveys. The time series data show variability in a range of time scales. The density variation is affected by both salinity and temperature, with its relatively strong annual signal mostly determined by temperature and its year to year variability mostly determined by salinity. Seasonal mean structures of temperature, salinity, and density show a transition from estuarine to shelf conditions in which three regions with distinct seasonal characteristics in their horizontal and vertical gradient structures are identified. Correlation analysis with the available forcing functions demonstrates the influence of Mobile Bay on the variability at the mooring site. At low frequencies, river discharge from Mobile Bay has a varying influence on salinity, which is absent during the periods with unusually low discharge. At shorter synoptic time scales, both the estuarine response to the across-shelf wind stress and the shelf response to the along-shelf wind stress are significantly correlated with temperature/salinity variability: the former becoming important for the surface layer during winter whereas the latter for the bottom layer during both winter and summer. These forcing functions are important players in determining the estuarine-shelf exchange, which in turn is found to contribute to the shelf hydrographic structure.  相似文献   

10.
Seismic reflection along the path of the Mediterranean Undercurrent   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2  
Seismic reflection profiling is applied to the study of large scale physical oceanographic processes in the Gulf of Cádiz and western Iberian coast, coinciding with the path of the Mediterranean Undercurrent. The multi-channel seismic reflection method provides clear images of thermohaline fine structure with a horizontal resolution approximately two orders of magnitude higher than CTD casting. The seismic data are compared with co-located historical oceanographic data. Three seismic reflectivity zones are identified: North Atlantic Central Water, Mediterranean Water and North Atlantic Deep Water. Seismic evidence for the path of the Mediterranean Undercurrent is found in the near-slope reflectivity patterns, with rising reflectors between about 500 and 1500 m. However, the core of the undercurrent is largely transparent. Seismic images show that central and, particularly, intermediate Mediterranean Waters have fine structure coherent over horizontal distances of several tens of kilometers. However, the intensity of the reflectors, and their horizontal coherence, decreases downstream. This change in seismic reflectivity is probably the result of diminished vertical thermohaline contrasts between adjacent water masses, so that double-diffusion processes become unable to sustain temperature and salinity staircases. Comparison of root-mean-square seismic amplitudes with temperature and salinity differences between the Mediterranean Undercurrent and the overlying central waters suggests a causal relationship between observed thermohaline fine structure and true seismic amplitudes. We estimate that, within this intermediate water stratum, impedance contrasts are mainly controlled by sound speed contrasts (a factor between 3.5 and 10 times larger than density contrasts), which are mainly controlled by temperature contrasts (a factor between 1.5 and 5 times larger than salinity contrasts).  相似文献   

11.
On formation of the intermediate water in the Northern Pacific Ocean   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2  
Summary Meridional cross sections of temperature, salinity and oxygen of the North Pacific Ocean are prepared to show location of the intermediate water, which is formed at the polar front and spreads on constantsigma-t surfaces. Geostrophic flow in a meridional plane is obtained by dynamic calculation. Friction-driven meridional circulation is determined from the zonally averaged density distribution. The latter flow seems to be more appropriate for explanation of mechanism of spread of the water.Oceanographic Institute Contribution No. 174.  相似文献   

12.
13.
The Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) is situated in the northeastern Arabian Sea. The presence of several industries along its coastal belt makes GoK a highly sensitive coastal ecosystem. In the present study, an attempt is made for the first time to study GoK thermohaline structure and its variability, based on field measurements and model simulations. Though GoK is considered as a well-mixed system, the study reveals that only the central Gulf is well mixed. Vertical gradients in temperature and salinity fields are noticed in the eastern Gulf, where a cold and high saline tongue is observed in the subsurface layers. Salinity indicates the characteristic feature of an inverse estuary with low values (37.20 psu) near the mouth and high values (>40.0 psu) near the head of the Gulf. The model simulated temperature and salinity fields exhibit semidiurnal oscillations similar to that of field observations. Model results show cold, high saline waters advecting from the east during ebb forming a transition zone, which oscillates with tides. A high salinity tongue is seen in the bottom layer, indicating a westward flowing bottom current. The transient zone acts as an dynamic barrier, and plays a vital role in the pollutant transport.  相似文献   

14.
Analysis of a quality-controlled database of Gulf Stream warm-core rings (WCRs) between 75° and 50°W during 1978–1999 demonstrates a significant correlation between WCR occurrences and variations in large-scale atmospheric forcing related to the state of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The mechanisms for linking the NAO with the rate of WCR occurrences are two-fold: (1) the influence of the NAO on Gulf Stream (GS) position, which could affect the interaction of the Gulf Stream with the New England Seamounts chain and thus allow for a higher/lower number of WCR occurrences; (2) the NAO-induced eddy kinetic energy (EKE) variability in the Gulf Stream region (GSR), which is indicative of the baroclinic instability processes necessary for WCR formation. Variability in GS movement is studied by analyzing annual mean positions of the Gulf Stream North Wall obtained from satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) frontal charts. Response of GSR EKE to fluctuations in the state of the NAO is examined with a numerical simulation of the North Atlantic basin from 1980–1999. The North Atlantic basin is simulated using a 1/6°-resolution eddy-resolving Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) model that spins up with Southampton Oceanography Center (SOC) ocean-atmosphere atlas-derived atmospheric forcing fields. Model-derived EKE estimates are observed to be in good agreement with TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter-based EKE estimates as well as with results from other modeling studies for the North Atlantic basin. We suggest that lateral movement of the GS may not be the primary mechanism causing variation in the rate of WCR occurrences, because GS position is observed to respond at a lag of one year, whereas annual rates of WCR occurrences respond at 0-year lag to the NAO. Based on results from numerical simulations of the North Atlantic basin, adjustment to NAO-induced wind forcing is seen to impact the GSR EKE intensity and possibly the related baroclinic instability structure of the GS at 0-year lag. These results suggest that NAO-induced interannual variability in GSR EKE is the most likely mechanism affecting WCR occurrences. Numerical simulations show that high (low) phases in the state of the NAO exhibit higher (lower) EKE in the GSR, providing a greater (lesser) source of baroclinic instability to the GS front, possibly resulting in higher (lower) occurrences of WCRs.  相似文献   

15.
The consequences of a coastal upwelling event on physical and chemical patterns were studied in the central Gulf of Finland. Weekly mapping of hydrographical and -chemical fields were carried out across the Gulf between Tallinn and Helsinki in July–August 2006. In each survey, vertical profiles of temperature and salinity were recorded at 27 stations and water samples for chemical analyses (PO43−, NO2+NO3) were collected at 14 stations along the transect. An ordinary distribution of hydrophysical and -chemical variables with the seasonal thermocline at the depths of 10–20 m was observed in the beginning of the measurements in July. Nutrient concentrations in the upper mixed layer were below the detection limit and nutriclines were located just below or in the lower part of the thermocline. In the first half of August, a very intense upwelling event occurred near the southern coast of the Gulf when waters with low temperature and high salinity from the intermediate layer surfaced. High nutrient concentrations were measured in the upwelled water – 0.4 μmol l−1 of phosphates and 0.6 μmol l−1 of nitrates+nitrites. We estimated the amount of nutrients transported into the surface layer as 238–290 tons of phosphorus (P)-PO43− and 175–255 tons of N-NOx for a 12 m thick, 20 km wide and 100 km long coastal stretch. Taking into account a characteristic along-shore extension of the upwelling of 200 km, the phosphate-phosphorus amount is approximately equal to the average total monthly riverine load of phosphorus to the Gulf of Finland. It is shown that TS-characteristics of water masses and vertical distribution of nutrients along the study transect experienced drastic changes caused by the upwelling event in the entire studied water column. TS-analysis of profiles obtained before and during the upwelling event suggests that while welled up, the cold intermediate layer water was mixed with the water from the upper mixed layer with a share of 85% and 15%. We suggest that the coastal upwelling events contribute remarkably to the vertical mixing of waters in the Gulf of Finland. Intrusions of nutrient-rich waters along the inclined isopycnal surfaces in the vicinity of upwelling front were revealed. The upwelling event widened the separation of phosphocline and nitracline which in turn prevented surfacing of nitrate+nitrite-nitrogen during the next upwelling event observed a week after the upwelling relaxation. A suggestion is made that such widening of nutricline separation caused by similar upwelling events in early summer could create favourable conditions for late summer cyanobacterial blooms.  相似文献   

16.
Physical oceanography measurements reveal a strong salinity (0.18 psu km?1) and temperature (0.07 °C km?1) front off the east coast of India in December 1997. T–S diagrams suggest lateral mixing between the fresh water at the coast and the ambient warmer, saltier water. This front seems to be the result of southward advection of fresh and cool water, formed in the northern Bay of Bengal during the monsoon, by the East Indian Coastal Current, as suggested by the large-scale salinity structure in the SODA re-analysis and the anti-cyclonic gyre in the northwestern Bay of Bengal during winter. The data further reveals an offshore front in January, which appears to be the result of a meso-scale re-circulation around an eddy, bringing cold and freshwater from the northern Bay of Bengal further away from the shore. Our cruise data hence illustrates that very strong salinity fronts can appear in the Bay of Bengal after the monsoon, as a result of intense coastal circulation and stirring by eddies.  相似文献   

17.
Measurements of the temperature and composition of effluent from vents on the sea floor can be used to deduce the in-situ density of this fluid, which is required for calculations of flow in the chimneys and through their porous walls. This density is, however, not directly relevant when calculating the buoyancy flux in the plume above a smoker. It is the asymptotic buoyancy flux, following extensive dilution with seawater, which is required when estimating the height of rise of plumes in a stably stratified ocean, and when calculating the criterion for reversal of buoyancy due to non-linear mixing effects. The results of mixing calculations show that the effluent from hydrothermal vents on the sea floor will exhibit reversing buoyancy if the ejected fluid has a temperature of 300°C and a salinity greater than 8 wt.% NaCl. If the temperature of the effluent is 200°C the salinity required for reversing buoyancy falls to 5.5 wt.% NaCl. Measurements of temperature and salinities of sea-floor hydrothermal fluid suggest that fluids with the characteristics required to form reversing plumes are ejected at the sea floor. The possibility that reversing plumes may be found has important implications for the formation of massive sulfide deposits.  相似文献   

18.
Profiles of salinity, temperature, oxygen and nutrients for a station at 35°46.5′N and 67°59.8′W show the influence of the five major sources of deep water in the North Atlantic Ocean. The presence of distinct, identifiable cores of water types, far removed from their sources, together with linear relationships between salinity and both oxygen and silicate in the deep water suggest that horizontal mixing processes predominate over vertical dissipation and in situ production or loss processes in determining the distribution of these tracers in the deep western Atlantic Ocean.  相似文献   

19.

Physical oceanography measurements reveal a strong salinity (0.18 psu km−1) and temperature (0.07 °C km−1) front off the east coast of India in December 1997. T–S diagrams suggest lateral mixing between the fresh water at the coast and the ambient warmer, saltier water. This front seems to be the result of southward advection of fresh and cool water, formed in the northern Bay of Bengal during the monsoon, by the East Indian Coastal Current, as suggested by the large-scale salinity structure in the SODA re-analysis and the anti-cyclonic gyre in the northwestern Bay of Bengal during winter. The data further reveals an offshore front in January, which appears to be the result of a meso-scale re-circulation around an eddy, bringing cold and freshwater from the northern Bay of Bengal further away from the shore. Our cruise data hence illustrates that very strong salinity fronts can appear in the Bay of Bengal after the monsoon, as a result of intense coastal circulation and stirring by eddies.

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20.
Tal Ezer 《Ocean Dynamics》2018,68(10):1259-1272
Tropical storms and hurricanes in the western North Atlantic Ocean can impact the US East Coast in several ways. Direct effects include storm surges, winds, waves, and precipitation and indirect effects include changes in ocean dynamics that consequently impact the coast. Hurricane Matthew [October, 2016] was chosen as a case study to demonstrate the interaction between an offshore storm, the Gulf Stream (GS) and coastal sea level. A regional numerical ocean model was used, to conduct sensitivity experiments with different surface forcing, using wind and heat flux data from an operational hurricane-ocean coupled forecast system. An additional experiment used the observed Florida Current (FC) transport during the hurricane as an inflow boundary condition. The experiments show that the hurricane caused a disruption in the GS flow that resulted in large spatial variations in temperatures with cooling of up to ~?4 °C by surface heat loss, but the interaction of the winds with the GS flow also caused some local warming near fronts and eddies (relative to simulations without a hurricane). A considerable weakening of the FC transport (~?30%) has been observed during the hurricane (a reduction of ~?10 Sv in 3 days; 1Sv?=?106 m3 s?1), so the impact of the FC was explored by the model. Unlike the abrupt and large wind-driven storm surge (up to 2 m water level change within 12 h in the South Atlantic Bight), the impact of the weakening GS on sea level is smaller but lasted for several days after the hurricane dissipated, as seen in both the model and altimeter data. These results can explain observations that show minor tidal flooding along long stretches of coasts for several days following passages of hurricanes. Further analysis showed the short-term impact of the hurricane winds on kinetic energy versus the long-term impact of the hurricane-induced mixing on potential energy, whereas several days are needed to reestablish the stratification and rebuild the strength of the GS to its pre-hurricane conditions. Understanding the interaction between storms, the Gulf Stream and coastal sea level can help to improve prediction of sea level rise and coastal flooding.  相似文献   

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