A multidisciplinary Amazon Shelf SEDiment Study (AmasSeds) : physical oceanography moored array component

Abstract

A Multidisciplinary Amazon Shelf SEDiment Study (AmasSeds) is a cooperative research program by geological, chemical, physical, and biological oceanographers from Brazil and the United States to study sedimentary processes occurring over the continental shelf near the mouth of the Amazon River. The physical oceanography component of AmasSeds included a moored array deployed on the continental shelf approximately 300km northwest of the Amazon River mouth near 3.5°N. The moored array consisted of a cross-shelf transect of three mooring sites located on the 18-m, 65-m, and 103-m isobaths. The moored array was deployed for approximately 4 months, from early February, 1990 to mid-June, 1990, obtaining time series measurements of current, temperature, conductivity, and wind. This report describes the physical oceanography moored array component and provides a statistical and graphical summary of the moored observations.