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    A large-amplitude meander of the shelfbreak front during summer south of New England : observations from the Shelfbreak PRIMER experiment

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    2002JC001468.pdf (2.735Mb)
    Date
    2004-03-04
    Author
    Gawarkiewicz, Glen G.  Concept link
    Brink, Kenneth H.  Concept link
    Bahr, Frank B.  Concept link
    Beardsley, Robert C.  Concept link
    Caruso, Michael J.  Concept link
    Lynch, James F.  Concept link
    Chiu, Ching-Sang  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/3568
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001468
    Keyword
     Shelfbreak front; Cross-shelf exchange; Frontal dynamics 
    Abstract
    In order to examine spatial and temporal variability of the shelfbreak front during peak stratification, repeated surveys using a towed undulating vehicle (SeaSoar) are used to describe the evolution of shelfbreak frontal structure during 26 July to 1 August 1996 south of New England. Spatial correlation (e-folding) scales for the upper 60 m of the water column were generally between 8 and 15 km for temperature, salinity, and velocity. Temporal correlation scales were about 1 day. The frontal variability was dominated by the passage of a westward propagating meander that had a wavelength of 40 km, a propagation speed of 0.11 m s−1, and an amplitude of 15 km (30 km from crest to trough). Along-front geostrophic velocities (referenced to a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profilers) were as large as 0.45 m s−1, although subject to significant along-front variations. The relative vorticity within the jet was large, with a maximum 0.6 of the local value of the Coriolis parameter. Seaward of the front, a small detached eddy consisting of shelf water was present with a diameter of approximately 15 km. Ageostrophic contributions to the velocity field are estimated to be as large as 0.3 m s−1 in regions of sharp curvature within the meander. These observations strongly suggest that during at least some time periods, shelfbreak exchange is nonlinear (large Rossby number) and dominated by features on a horizontal scale of order 10 km.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): C03006, doi:10.1029/2002JC001468.
    Collections
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): C03006
     

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