The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Eddy Impacts on the Florida Current

Eddy Impacts on the Florida Current
Eddy Impacts on the Florida Current
The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic carries warm water northwards and forms both the return closure of the subtropical gyre as well as the upper limb of the meridional overturning circulation. Recent time series recorded east of the Bahamas at 26°N indicate that from May 2009 to April 2011, in contrast with past observations, the northward flowing Antilles Current covaried with the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits—the Florida Current—even though the Florida and Antilles Currents are separated by banks and islands spanning 150?km. The peak-to-trough amplitude of transport variations during this period was 15?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Florida Current and 12?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Antilles Current, at time scales of 50?days to a year. From satellite observations, we show that the fluctuations in both the Florida and Antilles Currents between May 2009 and April 2011 are driven by eddy activity east of the Bahamas. Since the Florida Current time series is a critical time series for the state of the oceans, and often compared to climate models, this newly identified source of variability needs careful consideration when attributing the variability of the Florida Current to changes in the larger-scale circulations (e.g., gyre and overturning) or wind forcing.
0094-8276
349-353
Frajka-Williams, E.
da86044e-0f68-4cc9-8f60-7fdbc4dc19cb
Johns, W.E.
e69b0088-c832-4ed8-94f6-9c5e9e6f62af
Meinen, C.S.
e1d8f782-ccdf-4f81-98c4-cc1c7701165c
Beal, L.M.
3939723a-86f3-4691-bd09-bf1ab2657c76
Cunningham, S.A.
cf4b95d7-742f-43bd-8b99-c64fe50241ae
Frajka-Williams, E.
da86044e-0f68-4cc9-8f60-7fdbc4dc19cb
Johns, W.E.
e69b0088-c832-4ed8-94f6-9c5e9e6f62af
Meinen, C.S.
e1d8f782-ccdf-4f81-98c4-cc1c7701165c
Beal, L.M.
3939723a-86f3-4691-bd09-bf1ab2657c76
Cunningham, S.A.
cf4b95d7-742f-43bd-8b99-c64fe50241ae

Frajka-Williams, E., Johns, W.E., Meinen, C.S., Beal, L.M. and Cunningham, S.A. (2013) Eddy Impacts on the Florida Current. Geophysical Research Letters, 40 (2), 349-353. (doi:10.1002/grl.50115).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic carries warm water northwards and forms both the return closure of the subtropical gyre as well as the upper limb of the meridional overturning circulation. Recent time series recorded east of the Bahamas at 26°N indicate that from May 2009 to April 2011, in contrast with past observations, the northward flowing Antilles Current covaried with the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits—the Florida Current—even though the Florida and Antilles Currents are separated by banks and islands spanning 150?km. The peak-to-trough amplitude of transport variations during this period was 15?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Florida Current and 12?×?106?m3?s?1 for the Antilles Current, at time scales of 50?days to a year. From satellite observations, we show that the fluctuations in both the Florida and Antilles Currents between May 2009 and April 2011 are driven by eddy activity east of the Bahamas. Since the Florida Current time series is a critical time series for the state of the oceans, and often compared to climate models, this newly identified source of variability needs careful consideration when attributing the variability of the Florida Current to changes in the larger-scale circulations (e.g., gyre and overturning) or wind forcing.

Text
2013_grl_FrajkaWilliams_etal_Eddy_impacts_Florida_Current.pdf - Version of Record
Download (482kB)

More information

Published date: 28 January 2013
Organisations: Physical Oceanography

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 347922
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/347922
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 0ea34f4b-2010-4290-a1f0-9df090d31b5c
ORCID for E. Frajka-Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8773-7838

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Mar 2013 15:22
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:35

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: E. Frajka-Williams ORCID iD
Author: W.E. Johns
Author: C.S. Meinen
Author: L.M. Beal
Author: S.A. Cunningham

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×