Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Jouanno Julien, Ochoa J., Pallas-Sanz E., Sheinbaum J., Andrade-Canto F., Candela J., Molines J. M. (2016). Loop current frontal eddies : formation along the Campeche Bank and impact of coastally trapped waves. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 46 (11), p. 3339-3363. ISSN 0022-3670.

Titre du document
Loop current frontal eddies : formation along the Campeche Bank and impact of coastally trapped waves
Année de publication
2016
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000389036600006
Auteurs
Jouanno Julien, Ochoa J., Pallas-Sanz E., Sheinbaum J., Andrade-Canto F., Candela J., Molines J. M.
Source
Journal of Physical Oceanography, 2016, 46 (11), p. 3339-3363 ISSN 0022-3670
Velocity data from a mooring array deployed northeast of the Campeche Bank (CB) show the presence of subinertial, high-frequency (below 15 days) velocity fluctuations within the core of the northward flowing Loop Current. These fluctuations are associated with the presence of surface-intensified Loop Current frontal eddies (LCFEs), with cyclonic vorticity and diameter, 100 km. These eddies are well reproduced by a high-resolution numerical simulation of the Gulf of Mexico, and the model analysis suggests that they originate along and north of the CB, their main energy source being the mixed baroclinic-barotropic instability of the northward flow along the shelf break. There is no indication that these high-frequency LCFEs contribute to the LC eddy detachment in contrast to the low-frequency LCFEs (periods. 30 days) that have been linked to Caribbean eddies and the LC separation process. Model results show that wind variability associated with winter cold surges are responsible for the emergence of high-frequency LCFEs in a narrow band of periods (6-10 day) in the region of the CB. The dynamical link between the formation of these LCFEs and the wind variability is not direct: (i) the large-scale wind perturbations generate sea level anomalies on the CB as well as first baroclinic mode, coastally trapped waves in the western Gulf of Mexico; (ii) these waves propagate cyclonically along the coast; and (iii) the interaction of these anomalies with the Loop Current triggers cyclonic vorticity perturbations that grow in intensity as they propagate downstream and develop into cyclonic eddies when they flow north of the Yucatan shelf.
Plan de classement
Limnologie physique / Océanographie physique [032]
Description Géographique
ETATS UNIS ; FLORIDE ; GOLFE DU MEXIQUE
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010068731]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010068731
Contact