On Gulf Stream Frontal Eddies Along the Southeast U.S. (United States) Outer Continental Shelf,
Abstract
Low-frequency current and temperature time series from the outer shelf between Cape Canaveral, FL and Cape Romain, SC are compared to shipboard hydrographic data, satellite VHRR, coastal and buoy winds and coastal sea level during the period from February to June 1980. Low-frequency current and temperature variability along the shelf break was primarily produced by cyclonic, cold-core Gulf Stream frontal eddies. These disturbances traveled to the north at speeds of 50 to 70 cm/s with periods of 5 to 9 days throughout the experiment and produced cold cyclonic perturbations of the northward mean flow and temperature fields over an along-shelf coherence scale of 100 km. Frontal eddies appear to be an important mechanism in the observed eastward transport of northward momentum and heat along the shelf edge. They also appear to play a key role in the transfer of eddy kinetic and potential energy back to the mean flow, which suggests an upstream formation region and shear induced dissipation. Upwelling velocities of about 0.01 cm/s in the cold core provide the major source of new nutrients to the outer shelf. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADP001052
Entities
People
- Larry P. Atkinson
- Thomas N. Lee
Organizations
- University of Miami