Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. 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 109 (2004): C03049, doi:10.1029/2003JC002032.
Description:
The seasonality of various characteristics of the detached bottom boundary layer of the Middle Atlantic Bight shelfbreak front is examined using a collection of high-resolution transects across the front. The analysis follows previous methodology in which accumulated temperature change along isopycnals within the front is used to infer the location of the detached layer. The seasonal mean isopycnal at which detachment occurs (approximately 26.0 kg m−3) is fairly constant throughout the year. However, the vertical scale of the detached layer varies significantly with season, extending 60−80 m above the bottom in winter and spring, but only 20−40 m above the bottom in summer. The vertical scale is controlled by the strength and depth of the seasonal pycnocline. The observations suggest that the detached layer is capable of extending into the euphotic zone during winter and spring.
Description:
This work was funded by the Office of
Naval Research under contracts N00014-01-1-0931 (C. L. and G. G.) and
N00014-01-1-0772 (C. L. and G. G.) and by the National Science
Foundation under grant OCE-0095261 (R. P.)
Keywords:
Bottom boundary layer
;
Shelfbreak front
;
Middle Atlantic Bight
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
