Regionalization of the Gulf of Mexico from space-time chlorophyll-<Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> concentration variability |
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| Authors: | Olivia Salmerón-García Jorge Zavala-Hidalgo Adriana Mateos-Jasso Rosario Romero-Centeno |
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| Institution: | 1.Instituto de Geografía,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,Mexico,Mexico;2.Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria,Mexico,Mexico |
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| Abstract: | Regions in the Gulf of Mexico are determined based on the statistical behavior of the long-term monthly means of chlorophyll-a concentration from SeaWiFS satellite estimations. An analysis based on the four largest modes of an empirical orthogonal
decomposition, which account for 84.9% of the variance, results in nine spatial patterns with different statistical behavior
representing 14 connected regions. The time evolution (or principal component) of the first two modes resemble the annual
cycle, but each one with a different phase; the third mode represents a semiannual period and the fourth mode shows three
maxima and minima. A map of the resulting regions is obtained and the oceanographic processes taking place in each region
are discussed. The largest region covers most of the deep Gulf and the continental slope. Other regions in the deep Gulf are
located southeast of the Mississippi River mouth and off-shelf of southern Texas and Tabasco, all associated with seasonal
offshore cross-shelf transports. The shelves are associated with specific regions, but in wide shelves the inner and outer
continental platforms are separated. Among the causes that determine different regions are topographic characteristics and
the seasonal variability of physical processes, mainly entrainment caused by heat and momentum fluxes, upwelling, river plumes,
and cross-shelf transports associated with the convergence of the along-coast currents. |
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