Dynamics and Short Term Variability of He Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front

Dynamics and Short Term Variability of He Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front PDF Author: Derek Maxwell Burrage
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Dynamics and Short Term Variability of He Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front

Dynamics and Short Term Variability of He Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front PDF Author: Derek Maxwell Burrage
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description


Dynamics and Short Term Variability of the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front

Dynamics and Short Term Variability of the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front PDF Author: Derek Maxwell Burrage
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Continental shelf
Languages : en
Pages : 770

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Shelfbreak Frontal Dynamics in the Middle Atlantic Bight: Analysis of the SeaSoar Data from the ONR Shelfbreak PRIMER Experiment

Shelfbreak Frontal Dynamics in the Middle Atlantic Bight: Analysis of the SeaSoar Data from the ONR Shelfbreak PRIMER Experiment PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Analysis of the Shelfbreak PRIMER data sets are described. These data sets, consisting of primarily high-resolution hydrographic surveys, show important shelfbreak processes including interaction of a slope eddy with the front, large-amplitude frontal meandering, and frontal response to wind forcing. In addition, collaborative work with acousticians on acoustic propagation across the front is also described. In general, the front is shown to contain large horizontal and vertical velocity shears, leading to large day-to-day variability. In addition to analysis of these data sets, analysis of drifter tracks near the front have also shown new perspectives on exchange across the front, and a stability analysis of the front was also performed.

A Climatology of the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front

A Climatology of the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Front PDF Author: Christopher Anthony Linder
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Climatology
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Description of the shelfbreak front in the Middle Atlantic Bight is hampered by the extreme variability of the front. In order to gain more insight into the mean frontal structure and associated baroclinic jet, historical data is used to produce two dimensional climatological fields of temperature and salinity for the region south of Nantucket shoals. Associated cross-shelf fields of density, geostrophic velocity, relative vorticity, and shallow water potential vorticity have also been computed. Historical data from a quality-controlled database (HydroBase) in the region 69-72°W, 39.5-41°N is included. Cross-shelf sections are obtained by averaging the data in nine depth bins with an average cross-shelf spacing of 10 km but an increased resolution of 4 km near the shelfbreak. The vertical averaging interval was 10 m over the shelf and upper slope waters, increasing to 50 m in the deep slope waters. The data were averaged in bimonthly periods to study seasonal trends. For inter-regional comparison, similar analyses were performed for the south flank of Georges Bank and the shelf off New Jersey. The climatological temperature and salinity are consistent with previous descriptions of the frontal hydrography (e.g. Wright [1976], Beardsley and Flagg [1976], and Flagg [1987]). Most importantly, features such as the "cold pool", the upper slope pycnostad, and the frontal boundary are well resolved when compared with synoptic sections. The temperature contrast across the front varies seasonally between 2-6°C near the surface and at depths of 45-65 m. The salinity contrast is 1.5-2 PSS, with little seasonal variation. The resulting cross-frontal near surface density gradients are strongest during the winter and weakest during the summer, when the seasonal thermocline is established. The crossfrontal density gradients are stronger near the bottom outcrop of the front, consistent with previous modeling studies [Gawarkiewicz and Chapman, 1992]. Despite the inherent smearing of frontal gradients incurred by averaging over large temporal and spatial scales, the geostrophic velocity field shows a strong (20-30 cm s-1) baroclinic jet associated with the cross-frontal density gradients. The core of the jet, having a width of 15-20 km, is located between the 100-120 m isobaths. The core of the jet is well shoreward of the surface expression of the front, resulting from strong density gradients at the foot of the front. The horizontal velocity shear on the cyclonic, offshore edge of the front is roughly 0.2-0.4 * 10-4 s-1, with shears on the anticyclonic, offshore edge of the jet being half as large. The potential vorticity structure is drastically affected by the seasonal pycnocline during the summer but remains relatively uniform during the winter months. Comparisons of the mean fields from Georges Bank, Nantucket Shoals, and New Jersey show that the foot of the front shoals as the flow progresses to the southwest. The seasonal migration of the frontal boundary experiences a phase shift consistent with an alongshelf propagation of minimum salinities to the southwest. Finally, transport calculations for the flow over the outer shelf and slope give values in the range of 0.1-0.6 Sv to the west. This is comparable to the estimated transport shoreward of the 100 m isobath of 0.38 Sv [Beardsley et al., 1985], which suggests that the shelfbreak frontal jet may be an extremely important element in the alongshelf transport of fresh water in this region.

Diagnosing the Variability in Temperature and Velocity in the Middle Atlantic Bight

Diagnosing the Variability in Temperature and Velocity in the Middle Atlantic Bight PDF Author: Jacob Samuel Tse Forsyth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Observations of hydrographic and dynamical properties on the Middle Atlantic Bight shelf document strong variability at time scales spanning events that last a few days to century long trends. This thesis studies individual processes which impact shelf temperature and velocity structure, and quantifies the mean velocity conditions at the shelf break. Chapter 2 uses model output to study the dynamics that lead to the breakdown of summertime thermal stratification, and how the processes which reduce stratification vary from year to year. In summer, the atmosphere heats the surface of the ocean, leading to strong thermal stratification with warm water overlying cool water. During fall, strong storm events with downwelling-favorable winds are found to be the primary process by which stratification is reduced. The timing of these events and the associated destratification varies from year to year. In Chapter 3, the velocity structure of the New Jersey shelf break is examine, with a focus on the Shelfbreak Jet. Using 25 years of velocity measurements, mean velocity sections of the Shelfbreak Jet are created in both Eulerian and stream coordinate frameworks. The jet exhibits strong seasonal variability, with maximum velocities observed in spring and minimum velocities in summer. Evidence is found that Warm Core Rings, originating from the Gulf Stream and passing through the Slope Sea adjacent to the New Jersey shelf, tend to shift the Shelfbreak Jet onshore of its mean position or entirely shutdown the Shelfbreak Jet’s flow. At interannual timescales, variability in the Shelfbreak Jet velocity is correlated with the temperature on the New Jersey Shelf, with temperature lagging by about 2 months. Chapter 4 focuses on the impact of Warm Core Rings on the velocity and temperature structure on the New Jersey shelf. Warm Core Rings that have higher azimuthal velocities and whose cores approach closer to the shelf are found to exert greater influence on the shelf’s along-shelf velocities, with the fastest and closest rings reversing the direction of flow at the shelf break. Warm Core Rings are also observed to exert long-lasting impacts on the shelf temperature, with faster rings cooling the shelf and slower rings warming the shelf. Seasonal changes in thermal stratification strongly affect how rings alter the shelf temperature. Rings in summer tend to cool the shelf, and rings throughout the rest of the year generally warm the shelf.

Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems

Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems PDF Author: K. H. Mann
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118687914
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
The new edition of this widely respected text providescomprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the effects ofbiological–physical interactions in the oceans from themicroscopic to the global scale. considers the influence of physical forcing on biologicalprocesses in a wide range of marine habitats including coastalestuaries, shelf-break fronts, major ocean gyres, coral reefs,coastal upwelling areas, and the equatorial upwelling system investigates recent significant developments in this rapidlyadvancing field includes new research suggesting that long-term variability inthe global atmospheric circulation affects the circulation of oceanbasins, which in turn brings about major changes in fish stocks.This discovery opens up the exciting possibility of being able topredict major changes in global fish stocks written in an accessible, lucid style, this textbook isessential reading for upper-level undergraduates and graduatestudents studying marine ecology and biological oceanography

Dynamics of a Shelf-slope Front

Dynamics of a Shelf-slope Front PDF Author: Norton Quincy Sloan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atlantic Ocean
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Bibliography on Tidal Hydraulics

Bibliography on Tidal Hydraulics PDF Author: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Committee on Tidal Hydraulics
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hydraulics
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Bibliography on Tidal Hydraulics

Bibliography on Tidal Hydraulics PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hydraulics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Physical and Biological Processes at the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelf-Break Front

Physical and Biological Processes at the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelf-Break Front PDF Author: Andrew Joseph Hirzel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) is a highly productive ecosystem, supporting several economically important commercial fisheries. Chlorophyll enhancement at the MAB shelf-break front has been observed only intermittently, despite numerous studies that suggest persistent upwelling at the front. High resolution cross-frontal transect crossings were collected from three two-week cruises in April 2018, May 2019, and July 2019. Chapter 2 focused on applying a novel method of classifying planktonic images taken by a Video Plankton Recorder to enable processing of the large volumes of data collected with the instrument. Chapter 3 investigated cross-frontal trends by temporally averaging in both Eulerian and frontally-aligned coordinates. For April 2018, transient chlorophyll enhancement was seen at the front in individual transects and within the frontally-aligned mean transect, but not within the Eulerian mean transect. The Eulerian mean for May 2019 showed chlorophyll enhancement as a result of frontal eddies, which were further explored in chapter 4. No frontal enhancement was observed in July 2019. The frontal eddies observed in May 2019 were simulated using an idealized model, which showed that upwelling occurred within both of the frontal eddies, despite having opposite rotational directions. This result was consistent with nutrient enhancement observed within the centers of both eddies. Biological enhancement within each eddy was observed, which may have been a result of advection from source waters and/or a local response to upwelled nutrients. The influence of frontal variability and frontal eddies on nutrients and plankton at the front argues for the necessity for 3-D models to fully explain frontal behavior and its effects on biological responses.