The Effect of a Cold-air Outbreak on the Continental Shelf Water of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico PDF Download

Author: Charles A. Parker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Two physical oceanographic cruises with almost identical coverage were conducted over the Texas-Louisiana shelf in January 1966. During the fifteen-day period between cruises, a sustained cold-air outbreak occurred over the survey region. 'Quasi-synoptic' measurements of temperature, salinity and sigma-t document a surface layer which is homogeneous to approximately 100 m (or to the bottom for shallower depths) during both cruise periods. The horizontal gradients in this layer are largest in the 'nearshore' region (less than 25 m depth) where isovalues contours generally parallel shore. The maximum temperature gradients increased from .25 degrees C/naut mi before the outbreak to .80 degrees C/naut mi after. There is indication that the subsurface salinity maximum of the Gulf of Mexico intersects the homogeneous surface layer over the slope region. The distribution of sigma-t along a horizontal line normal to shore for the surface layer over the shelf resembles the vertical distribution of sigma-t with waters further offshore. (Author).