Observations of the California Countercurrent

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Author
Harrod, Robert L.
Date
1984-06Advisor
Wickham, Jacob B.
Tucker, S.P.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Results from moored current meters, 150 - 350 m, are
discussed for a region over the continental slope off Cape
San Martin, California from January 1979 to April 1980.
Current vector time series were constructed from the
data and compared to a local upwelling index . Progressive
vector diagrams of the data were also constructed, and
spectrum analysis was performed for alongshore and cross-slope
currents.
The California Countercurrent was found to be present in
the study area during the entire period. Seasonally, the
countercurrent was substantially stronger during the
spring. Frequent current reversals and oscillations
occurred between equatorward and poleward flow, less often
at the nearshore station. Preferred low frequency energy
peaks were found at periods of about 10 days. The
intensity of the countercurrent increased with increasing
coastal upwelling index, and the cross-slope flow also
appeared to be related to the local coastal upwelling
index.
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