1,721,041 research outputs found
The Impact of Boundary Conditions on the Upstream Spreading of Bottom-Trapped Plumes
Get PDFThis study shows that simulations of bottom-trapped plumes in periodic or closed domains generate a spurious cyclonic current that arrests the natural tendency of the plume to move upstream. Furthermore, it also shows that attempts to obstruct the upstream spreading lead to a bias of the fundamental characteristics of the plume.Fil: Matano, Ricardo. Oregon State University. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science; Estados UnidosFil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (i); Argentin
The Spindown of Bottom-trapped Plumes
Get PDFThis note considers the decay of a bottom-trapped freshwater plume after the causative freshwater inflow has ceased. It is shown that shortly after the low-density inflow stops, the barotropic pressure field that it created radiates away and the ocean circulation becomes controlled by baroclinic pressure gradients generated by the remnants of the inflow. This produces a reversal of the circulation in the region downstream of the inflow, after which the entire plume starts to move in the upstream direction. The decay of the plume is henceforth controlled by upstream oceanic flow and dilution through cross-isopycnal mixing.Fil: Matano, Ricardo. Oregon State University; Estados UnidosFil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentin
Circulation and Cross‐Shelf Exchanges in the Northern Shelf Region of the Southwestern Atlantic: Kinematics
No full textA high-resolution ocean model is used to characterize the circulation and cross-shelf exchanges in the Brazilian/Uruguayan portion of the southwestern Atlantic shelf. Cross-shelf exchanges are strongly modulated by the bottom topography. There is ∼1.2 Sv of on-shelf transport between 21°S and 25.2°S, and ∼1.6 Sv of off-shelf transport between 35°S and 25.2°S. North of 25.2°S, the cross-shelf exchanges show a two-layer structure with an off-shelf flow in the upper 50m and on-shelf flow deep below. A Lagrangian diagnostic shows that ∼0.15 Sv of deep waters from the Brazil Current (z > 200 m) are injected into the shelf. Mixing with ambient waters produces a spicier (warmer and saltier) water mass, which is ejected into the open ocean in the southern region. Backward in-time particle's trajectories analysis reveals that 95% of the southward shelf transport at 32°S originates in the open ocean at 22°S. Our model diagnostics show that there is a very limited connectivity between the shelf regions north and south of Cabo Frio. Correlation analysis shows no significant influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) on the time variability of the cross-shelf transport. Cross-shelf transports, however, are significantly correlated with the local wind stress variability.Fil: Combes, Vincent. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Matano, Ricardo. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física; Argentin
South Atlantic Circulation and Variability from a Data Assimilating Model
No full textWe characterize the low frequency variability of the South Atlantic circulation using 50 years of data from the SODA model. EOF analysis show that the leading modes of sea surface height anomalies (SSH) are dominated by interdecadal variations of the subtropical gyre. The dynamical manifestations of the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence and the Agulhas Retroflection variability appear in the second and third mode. The structure of the wind stress curl show changes related mostly to the first SSH mode. The lack of significant correlation between the SSH and wind curl for the second and third modes indicates that these patterns are more influenced by the internal variability of the geostrophic flow. There are significant correlations between SSH and surface temperature anomalies (SST), suggesting that an important portion of the SST variability are driven by advective effects associated with the geostrophic circulation. Our analysis also shows a strong correlation between the SA meridional overturning circulation (SAMOC) and the meridional heattransport (MHT), with a latitudinal increase that is close to obervations. The anomalies and the meridional gradient of the SAMOC and MHT appear stronger during El Niño years and weaker during La Niña ones.Fil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Matano, Ricardo. State University of Oregon; Estados Unido
The upstream spreading of bottom-trapped plumes
Get PDFIt is well known that numerical simulations of freshwater discharges produce plumes that spread in the direction opposite to that of the propagation of coastally trapped waves (the upstream direction). The lack of a theory explaining these motions in unforced environments deemed the numerical results suspect. Thus, it became a common practice in numerical studies to add a downstream mean flow to arrest the development of the upstream perturbation. This approach is generally unjustified, and it remains a matter of interest to determine if the upstream displacement produced by models is a geophysical phenomenon or a consequence of erroneous assumptions in the model setup. In this article, the results of highly idealized numerical experiments are used to investigate these matters. It is shown that this phenomenon is associated with the geostrophic adjustment of the discharge and that upstream motion is endemic to the baroclinic structure ofbottom-trapped plumes. It is also shown that downstream displacements are generated by the cross-shelf barotropic pressure gradient generated by the propagation of coastally trapped waves. Sensitivity experiments indicate that the speed of upstream propagation and the density structure of the plume are affected by bottom friction, the slope of the bottom, and the magnitude of the density anomaly. Bottom friction in particular slows down the progression of the plume and changes its density structure, producing a more homogeneous downstream region and a more stratified upstream region.Fil: Matano, Ricardo. Oregon State University; Estados UnidosFil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentin
A Numerical Study of the Magellan Plume
Get PDFIn this modeling study we investigate the dynamical mechanisms controlling the spreading of the Magellan Plume, which is a low-salinity tongue that extends along the Patagonian Shelf. Our results indicate that the overall characteristics of the plume (width, depth, spreading rate, etc.) are primarily influenced by tidal forcing, which manifests through tidal mixing and tidal residual currents. Tidal forcing produces a homogenization of the plume’s waters and an offshore displacement of its salinity front. The interaction between tidal and wind-forcing reinforces the downstream and upstream buoyancy transports of the plume. The influence of the Malvinas Current on the Magellan Plume is more dominant north of 50S, where it increases the along-shelf velocities and generates intrusions of saltier waters from the outer shelf, thus causing a reduction of the downstream buoyancy transport. Our experiments also indicate that the northern limit of the Magellan Plume is set by a high salinity discharge from the San Matias Gulf. Sensitivity experiments show that increments of the wind stress cause a decrease of the downstream buoyancy transport and an increase of the upstream buoyancy transport. Variations of the magnitude of the discharge produce substantial modifications in the downstream penetration of the plume and buoyancy transport. The Magellan discharge generates a northeastward current in the middle shelf, a recirculation gyre south of the inlet and a region of weak currents father north.Fil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Matano, Ricardo. Oregon State University; Estados Unido
Disentangling the upwelling mechanisms of the South Brazil Bight
Get PDFThis article presents a suite of long-term numerical simulations that investigate the dynamical mechanisms controlling the circulation in the South Brazil Bight (SBB). The overarching goal of these simulations is to quantify the relative contributions of local wind forcing and the Brazil Current (BC) to the upwelling of nutrient-rich slope water onto the shelf. The model results indicate that the water mass structure of the SBB is controlled by the synergy between wind-driven, inner-shelf upwelling and geostrophic, shelf-break upwelling. The later extends yearlong but the former peaks during the austral summer and decreases towards the winter. The interaction between the poleward flow of the BC and the bottom topography greatly influences the shelf circulation, particularly in the bottom boundary layer. Changes of the SBB coastline direction and shelf width modulate the along-shore pressure gradient and the magnitude of the shelf-break upwelling and downwelling. Thus, although the summer upwelling winds extend over large part of the SBB surface temperatures are warmer in the south because of the cooling effect of the shelf-break upwelling in the northern region. At difference with previous studies of shelf-break dynamics the shelf-break upwelling in our model is not controlled by the uplifting associated with the presence of instabilities of the boundary current or nonlinear accelerations under a variable shelf width. The proposed mechanism is relatively simple. As the boundary current flows along the continental slope, changes in the coastline orientation and along-shore bottom topography modify the along-shore pressure gradient which through geostrophy leads to inshore bottom flow and hence shelf-break upwelling. Such a mechanism can provide insight into upwellings on other western boundary current regions where similar topographic variations exist.Fil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Matano, Ricardo. State University of Oregon; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin
Energy transmission by barotropic Rossby waves revisited
Get PDFThis article presents a semianalytic method to investigate the propertie s of energy transmission across bottom topography by barotropic Rossby waves. The method is first used to r evisit the analytical estimates derived from wave-matching techniques and Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin ( WKB) approximations. The comparison between the semianalytic method and WKB indicates that the res ults of the latter are valid for waves with periods longer than a month and ridges taller than 1000 m and wider than 500 km. For these parameter values both methods predict the passage of low-frequency waves and the reflection of high- frequency waves. The semianalytic method is then used to discuss the energ y transmission properties of a cross section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is shown that the filtering cha racteristics of realistic bottom topographies depend not only on the spatial scale set by the cross-section envelope, but also on the scales of the individual peaks. This dependence is related to the fact that topogr aphies narrower than 400 km (e.g., peaks) are high-pass filters of incoming waves, while topographie s wider than that (e.g., cross-section envelopes) are low-pass filters. In the particular case of the Mid-Atlant ic Ridge the neglect of the contri- bution of individual peaks leads to an erroneous estimate of the filtering properties of the massif.Fil: Matano, Ricardo. Oregon State University; Estados UnidosFil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentin
Circulation and cross-shelf exchanges in the Malvinas Islands Shelf region
No full textThe Malvinas Islands Shelf (MIS) encompasses one of the most productive portions of the southwestern Atlantic. Large phytoplankton blooms, which constitute the base of the marine food web, emerge from the northern sector of the MIS and extend hundreds of kilometers northward along the Patagonian shelfbreak. The physical processes contributing to MIS fertilization are poorly understood. Here we use the results of a high-resolution ocean model to characterize circulation and water mass exchanges between the MIS and the Southern Ocean, as well as to identify the physical processes underlying fertilization of the shelf waters. Model results show that the shelf is characterized by an anticyclonic circulation pattern in the southeastern region that intensifies during summer and weakens during winter. The blocking effect of the islands leads to development of an upwind westward flowing current in the northern portion of the MIS, recirculation cells in the western portion, and a northward throughflow in the narrow strait separating them. Particle tracking experiments reveal that the northern portion of the Drake Passage is the largest water mass source for the MIS. Passive tracers indicate that the place where the Antarctic Circumpolar Current collides with the MIS is the main site for the outcropping of deep waters. Subsequent outcropping is largely driven by the synergetic interaction of tides and wind forcing. After spreading along the southwestern shelfbreak, the concentration of tracer peaks in the winter and decays during the spring. In summer, the tracer accumulates on the lee of the islands in agreement with satellite images of chlorophyll-a concentration. Additional experiments show that there is an important contribution of MIS waters to the Patagonian shelfbreak front.Fil: Palma, Elbio Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Matano, Ricardo. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Combes, Vincent. State University of Oregon; Estados Unido
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