The variability of anticyclonic current patterns in the Gulf of Mexico

Behringer, David; Molinari, Robert L.; Festa, John F.

doi:10.1029/jc082i034p05469

Cited by 54 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…The amplitude of the oscillations exhibits maximum values, with meridional motion of 4.0 and 2.5 degrees of latitude for 1993-2003 and 2004-2009, respectively. Monthly mean values of the LC northward excursions between 1993 and 2009 indicate that the location of the LC in summer (July to August) is significantly more to the north than in the fall season, with winter and spring having values closer to the mean (Figure 4(a)). Similar results are found in previous studies; data from 47 cruises in the eastern GOM and monthly fields of temperature at 200 m from 1970 to 1976 have shown that on average, the penetration of the LC into the GOM increases during the winter and spring, reaching a maximum in the early summer (Behringer, Molinari, and Festa 1977). The northward penetration of the LC also exhibits year-to-year variability (Figure 4 (Figure 4(b)).…”

Section: Northern and Western Lc Excursionssupporting

confidence: 89%

Loop Current excursions and ring detachments during 1993–2009

David

Bringas

Goñi

2013

International Journal of Remote Sensing

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Linkages between the variability of Loop Current (LC) surface dynamics, LC ring detachments, and the mean sea height anomaly in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are explored using a new methodology that locates the LC fronts and detects the shedding of LC rings. Based on satellite altimetry observations and dynamic height gradient, this methodology allows the determination of the dynamic structure in the region from 1993 to 2009. Northward penetration of the LC was found to be seasonal, with a tendency to increase during the spring and peaking in summer. Whereas northward oscillations exhibit ranges of 4 degrees of latitude, the range of westward oscillations is 6 degrees of longitude. Using the newly developed methodology, 28 LC rings are identified and described during 1993-2009. Starting in 2003, the LC is located more to the north on average, and the average number of LC rings formed per year increases. Since 2003, a significant increase in sea height residuals in the GOM has been observed, exhibiting a linear trend of 2.78 ± 0.26 cm/decade for the period 1993-2009. It is hypothesized here that the increase observed in sea height residuals is linked to the increase in mesoscale activity (LC northward intrusions and number of rings shed) obtained from satellite altimetry observations. Results shown here complement previous observational studies in the region, cover a longer time span, and define objectively the locations of the LC front and the shedding of the rings.

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Section: Northern and Western Lc Excursionssupporting

confidence: 89%

Loop Current excursions and ring detachments during 1993–2009

David

Bringas

Goñi

2013

International Journal of Remote Sensing

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“…The average cycle of northward penetration of the LC showed maximum values in early summer, consistent with the findings of Behringer et al (1977). While this seasonality was not statistically significant, the oscillations of the mean latitude of the LC were positively correlated with larval fish density in the region delimited by 25 to 27°N and 86 to 88°W, which was centered at the mean northernmost latitude and westernmost longitude of the LC during spring months.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Varying mesoscale structures influence larval fish distribution in the northern Gulf of Mexico

David

Bringas²,

Goñi³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The variability of mesoscale circulation structures in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) was examined using satellite altimeter data collected between 1992 and 2008, and linkages between ocean circulation and the spatial distribution of larval fish were assessed. The abundance and distribution of the larvae of 5 pelagic fish taxa (Auxis spp., Euthynnus alleteratus, Thunnus thynnus, other Thunnus spp., and Coryphaena spp.) were estimated from surveys conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service each spring between 1993 and 2007. We observed a tendency for higher northward extension of the Loop Current (LC) during spring each year, with maximum northern penetration in summer, although the exact location of the LC varied from year to year. Generally, higher total larval abundances occurred during years of high northward penetration in a region that was crossed by the LC during its excursions. However, the interannual variability of the LC was not mirrored in a general increase or decrease of larval fish densities in the water masses out of the LC front. Further, the results show that larvae of T. thynnus and Auxis spp. were more abundant within the boundaries of anticyclonic features (usually between 148 to 158 cm of sea surface height) and within GOM common waters, defined as the background waters in between the boundaries of mesoscale features. Our findings suggest that the position and strength of anticyclone mesoscale features in the GOM define a favorable spawning habitat for the species examined. KEY WORDS: Fisheries oceanography · Mesoscale variability · Fronts and eddies · Loop Current · Ichthyoplankton distribution · Thunnus thynnusResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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“…[1988b] concludes that the average eddy-shedding frequency While each of these eddies seems to have been shed and is 10.9 months, and Behringer et al [1977] suggested that subsequently reabsorbed by the Loop Current. it is possible one eddy occurs per year.…”

Section: Oct -Ov Dementioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic carbon sinks: Present and future

Walsh¹

1989

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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92-30570I 17With past ONR support from Grant N00014-87-J-1218, we had successfully coupled simple biological models of phytoplankton production (light and nutrient regulation of one size fraction) to time-dependent, 3-dimensional physical models of basin circulation at 25-30 km resolution in the Gulf of Mexico . While these coupled models mimicked seasonal cycles of phytoplankton abundance in basin waters, as estimated by changes in chlorophyll stocks, they failed to replicate fluctuations of biological populations within more complex slope and shelf regions.Accordingly, a more diverse biological model of particle decay within the aphotic zone (3 size classes of phytoplankton, macroaggregates, and zooplankton fecal pellets) was coupled to a static, 2-dimensional model of slope circulation at 0.5 km resolution in the Middle Atlantic Bight (Walsh et al., 1991). By specifying the influx of these particles, both at the shelf-break and from the overlying slope euphotic zone, with variable sinking velocities, the second set of coupled models reproduced seasonal time series of organic carbon caught by moored sediment traps on the slope and rise.A total of 8 publications were derived from this ONR grant: yr-1 , gases, C0 2 , N 2 0, CH4, and freons, to the tenfold that of other high Arctic shelves, atmosphere, is attributed to altered ice/ and may supply 50% of the carbon snow albedo at sea level, i.e., melting of respiration demands within the halocline sea ice.A 5% decline of sea ice extent of the deep Canadian and Eurasian basins in the Arctic and Antarctic from 1979 to via brine-mediated runoff. Continued 1987 may have resulted in increased light melting of ice in the Arctic could availability within previously ice-covered increase by an order of magnitude the polar regions.If such a short-term trend present CO 2 sink of 1-0.i x 109 t C yr'. were to continue, it might lead to a negative biogeochemical feedback, i.e., enhanced extraction of atmospheric CO 2 INTRODUCTION during marine photosynthesis.As a consequence of deep vertical mixing in the The global temperature of surface air Antarctic Ocean, however, primary producincreaseu by 0.4*-0.5*C from 1880 to 1980, tion during the austral summer may have while temperatures of Arctic regions actually declined in response to a reduc-(%64*-90N) instead rose by as much as tion in extent of meltwater regions, where 1.2*-1.5 0 C over this period [Hansen et stratified water columns allow carbon al., 1983]. After 1980, six of the fixation tenfold that of open water.In warmest years in the past century have contrast, within shallow adjacent seas of subsequently been observed , 1981, the Arctic Ocean, where shelf regions are 1983, reflecting tenfold larger than those of the possible early signs of a "greenhouse" warming of the Earth [Hansen and Lebedeff, Copyright 1989Copyright 1988. Initial one-dimensional [Hansen et by the American Geophysical Union. al., 19811 and then three-dimensional climate models of varying sophisticationPaper number 90GB00583. [Mitchell,...

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The variability of anticyclonic current patterns in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 54 publications

References 5 publications

Loop Current excursions and ring detachments during 1993–2009

Loop Current excursions and ring detachments during 1993–2009

Varying mesoscale structures influence larval fish distribution in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Arctic carbon sinks: Present and future

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