Analysis of water column stability using shipboard and submarine density and shear measurements

Abstract

Analysis of water column stability was performed using shipboard and submarine shear and density profile data acquired by U.S.S. DOLPHIN and R V ACANIA in October. 19S4 in the vicinity of Monterey Bay, California. Data was acquired utilizing CTD and acoustic doppler profiler (ADVP) instruments. The upper ocean thermohaline structure and water column stability, over a 10km square domain, was determined from repeated measurements of the conductivity, temperature, and velocity to a depth of 115m. The temporal and spatial variation in the analyzed fields ol" temperature, salinity, density, and velocity are compared with the constructed profiles of the static stability parameter (E) and gradient Richardson number. The analyzed fields were in turn compared with the larger scale forcing factors of coastal upwelling, current systems, bottom topography, and internal waves. The stability the water column was found to be both statically and dynamically stable with the exception of thin patches of instability which were determined to be the result of double diffusive processes.