Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 110 (2005): C02009, doi:10.1029/2004JC002311.
Description:
Observations from autumn, 2000, near the shelfbreak front in the Middle Atlantic Bight
are used to describe the transition from stratified summer conditions to well-mixed winter
conditions over the shelf. During the observational period, the front differed dramatically
from climatological conditions, with buoyant Gulf Stream water found shoreward over
the sub-surface shelfbreak front. Water mass analysis shows a large number of separate
water masses with shelf, slope and Gulf Stream origins. The coolest shelf water was
located at the shelfbreak and may be related to “cold pool” water masses observed to the
north during summer. Shoreward of this shelfbreak water mass, a mid-shelf front was
present which intersected the bottom at the 50 m isobath. High volume transports were
associated with both the shelfbreak and mid-shelf fronts. Transport estimates from the
cross-shelf sections were approximately 1 Sverdrup, which is large relative to previous
estimates of shelf transport. The foot of the front was near the 130 m isobath, much deeper
than the climatological position near the 75 m isobath, however this is consistent with a
recent theory relating the magnitude of alongshelf transport to the depth at which the front
intersects the bottom.
Description:
The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Duke University
- University of North Carolina Oceanographic Consortium
for ship time aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras. MSL also gratefully
acknowledges support from the Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0260).
Keywords:
Shelfbreak front
;
Mid-shelf front
;
Shelf transport
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
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