Shelf Circulation in the Gulf of California
Abstract
The 1983-84 long-term moored observations in the Gulf of California are used to describe the dynamically important spatial and temporal scales of the shelf circulation on opposite sides of the 150-km wide gulf, and to investigate the characteristics of coastal-trapped waves that propagate into the gulf along the mainland shelf. Observation results include: (1) Local wind forcing is not observed. (2) Flow on the facing shelf regions is uncorrelated, although recirculation with basin flow is observed on both shelves. Net surface transport is correlated with the cross Gulf pressure gradient. (3) A rise in subinertial sea level on the mainland shelf is accompanied by a drop in isotherm depths such that pressure fluctuations rapidly decay with depth. 4) Cross shelf geostrophy is weakly apparent on both shelves. Acceleration of along shelf currents is correlated with along shelf pressure gradient on the mainland shelf, indicating the presence of remotely forced waves. Next, an empirically derived propagating signal is compared with a coastal-trapped wave model. The model is forced by a simple extrapolation of storm winds to the coast. Complex empirical orthogonal functions are assessed as a possible method for isolating propagating variability in the gulf data set. Study results indicate that CEOFs are inadequate for detecting the wave signal due to the wide-banded frequency characteristics of the signal.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA233570
Entities
People
- Mark A. Merrifield
Organizations
- University of California, San Diego