Sensitivity of Loop Current metrics and eddy detachments to different model configurations: The impact of topography and Caribbean perturbations

García-Jove, Máximo; Sheinbaum, Julio; Jouanno, Julien

doi:10.20937/atm.2016.29.03.05

Cited by 21 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…4c) related to barotropic instabilities can be observed in the area of the LC from the Yucatan channel up to its tip. Similar results were also simulated by Garcia-Jove et al (2016). Another noticeable color in Fig.…”

Section: ) Eke Generation and Dissipationsupporting

confidence: 86%

Energetics of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Maslo

Souza

Sheinbaum

2020

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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The evaluation of the ocean energy balance is crucial for improving the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms sustaining ocean circulation. Based on the outputs of the ROMS ocean model, the energy cycle, eddy–mean flow interactions, and energy pathways of the deep Gulf of Mexico (GoM) have been investigated in this study. The theoretical framework for the analysis is based on the energy equations for the time-mean and time-varying flow, where some of the terms were split into their horizontal and vertical components to monitor the energy pathways. Of the energy maintaining deep kinetic energy (KE), approximately 75% is transferred from the upper layer to the deep layer by vertical pressure work (PW), about 6% by the horizontal PW through the Yucatan and Florida straits, and ~19% is generated through the processes related to baroclinic instabilities. The mean circulation generates eddies in the upper layer, while eddies drive mean circulation in the deep layer. Energy is transferred downward in the eastern and western part of the Gulf, upward in the deep western-central part, and a strong westward energy transport can be observed below 2000-m depth.

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Section: ) Eke Generation and Dissipationsupporting

confidence: 86%

Energetics of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Maslo

Souza

Sheinbaum

2020

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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“…Zavala‐Hidalgo et al () also found a relationship between the generation of the LCFE and LC dynamics; the cyclones observed on the northeast shelf break of the Campeche Bank during 1993–2000 were generated during the last stage of the LC shedding. Garcia‐Jove et al () also observed an increase in eddy KE associated with the generation and intensification of the frontal eddies during the extended stages of the LC. Therefore, not only the formation but also the later intensification of the LCFEs is dependent on the stage of the LC.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Even though the LC is losing total APE through baroclinic instability (Donohue, Watts, Hamilton, Leben, & Kennelly, ), locally, the growth of the LCFEs strengthens the LC front (Figures and ), enhances the density gradients (Figure ), and drives a local increase in APE in the LC (Figure ). In fact, Garcia‐Jove et al () showed, using numerical models, that eddies can transfer energy to the mean LC, especially on the eastern flank of the LC.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of Loop Current Frontal Eddy Intensification Through Local Linear and Nonlinear Interactions with the Loop Current

2020

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During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an underestimated part of the oil was entrained into an intensified Loop Current Frontal Eddy (LCFE). These eddies, which are also known to play an essential role in the Loop Current eddy (LCE) shedding, are difficult to predict, and the dynamics involving their intensification are still not fully understood. The Loop Current (LC) and its strongest LCFEs were continuously tracked during 2009-2011 using sea surface height (SSH) from AVISO+. A mooring array provided complementary information about the internal structure of the LC-LCFE interaction. The intensification of the tracked LCFEs presented similar characteristics, independent of their location: a steep increase in kinetic energy, a corresponding negative increase in SSH, and an increase in its area. As the LCFE grows, the flow at the interface with the LC becomes stronger and deeper and the horizontal density gradient between the features increases. The intensification of the front and the LCFEs is driven by the advection (nonlinear) term and the gradient pressure (linear) term in the momentum budget. Evidence of an inverse energy cascade suggests that LCFEs are extracting energy and mass from the submesoscale field to the zone of contact between the LC and the LCFE, strengthening the front and allowing the LCFEs to grow during periods of intensification. Understanding the physics driving the LCFE intensification is a key step to improve LC forecast models and to better predict LCE shedding events, as well as oil and particle transport around the LC.

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“…The circulation fields (temperature, salinity, currents, diffusivity) have been obtained using a GoM regional configuration based on the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO), a state-of-the-art modeling environment of ocean related engines (Madec 2016). The configuration that we employed, called GOLFO12, is described in detail in Damien et al (2018) and similar to the one used in Garcia-Jove Navarro et al (2016). The resolution is 1/12°degree in longitude and latitude.…”

Section: Modeling Framework and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean currents and coastal exposure to offshore releases of passively transported material in the Gulf of Mexico

Duteil

Damien

Sheinbaum

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Commun.

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The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is heavily exploited by the oil industry. Incidental oil releases, such as the 2010 blowout of the Deepwater Horizon platform, lead to a large scale dispersion of pollutants by ocean currents, contaminating the coastline and damaging the ecosystems. In order to determine whether the ocean dynamics hampers or conversely fosters the landing of material in the coastal regions, we simulate more than 29 000 individual tracer releases in the offshore waters of the GoM. We assume that the tracers are not decaying and transported passively by the ocean currents. In a first part of our study we focus on the mean dispersion pattern of 80 releases occurring at the location of the Deepwater Horizon. In a second part, we generalize the metrics that we defined to the whole GoM. Our study shows that releases occurring in specific regions, i.e. the bay of Campeche, off the Mississipi-Alabama-Florida and the West Florida shelfs are associated with higher environmental costs as the ocean currents steer the released material toward the productive coastal ecosystems and foster landings. Conversely, the tracers released off the Louisiana-Texas-shelfs and the center of the Gulf of Mexico are less threatening for coastal regions as the material recirculates offshore. We show that the coastline of the southwest part of the Bay of Campeche, the Mississipi's mouth and the Island of Cuba are particularly exposed as 70% of the landings occur in these 3 regions.

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Sensitivity of Loop Current metrics and eddy detachments to different model configurations: The impact of topography and Caribbean perturbations

Cited by 21 publications

References 45 publications

Energetics of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Energetics of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Evidence of Loop Current Frontal Eddy Intensification Through Local Linear and Nonlinear Interactions with the Loop Current

Ocean currents and coastal exposure to offshore releases of passively transported material in the Gulf of Mexico

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