Effect of coastal-trapped waves and wind on currents and transport in the Gulf of California

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Author
Gutiérrez, Manuel O.
López, Manuel
Candela, Julio
Castro, Rubén
Mascarenhas, Affonso
Collins, Curtis A.
Date
2014Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Subsurface pressure (SsP) observations from stations inside and outside of the Gulf of California
(GC) are used to analyze the relationship between low-frequency currents, temperature, and transport
inside the GC and intraseasonal coastal-trapped waves (CTWs), which propagate poleward along the coast
toward the GC. Correlation functions and coherences of SsP stations were consistent with intraseasonal
CTWs splitting in two at the mouth of the gulf: one part enters the gulf, propagates around the gulf, and
eventually, toward the mouth, and another part that appears to ‘‘jump’’ the mouth of the gulf and travels
poleward along the west coast of the peninsula. The correlation and coherence estimates of SsP at Manzanillo
with currents showed that downwelling CTWs generated along-gulf current anomalies toward the
head of the gulf at the mainland shelf of the mouth, whereas at Ballenas Channel sill (San Lorenzo sill) these
waves generated current anomalies toward the mouth near the surface (bottom). At the San Lorenzo (SL)
sill, downwelling CTWs increased the near-bottom ( 400 m) temperature and reduced the bottom transport
of deep, fresher, and colder water that flows toward the head of the gulf. Cross-Calibrated Multiplatform
winds were used to investigate their relationship with currents. The first empirical orthogonal function
of the along-gulf wind stress showed that wind blowing toward the head of the gulf generated a reduction
of bottom transport toward the head of the gulf through the SL sill, and intensified surface geostrophic current
fluctuations toward the head of the gulf. There was also significant correlation between inflow bottom
transport and outflow surface geostrophic velocities averaged across the gulf, consistent with the exchange
pattern for the Northern Gulf.
Description
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009538
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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