Anticyclonic rings and the energetics of the circulation of the Gulf of Mexico
The question addressed in this dissertation is what is the primary energy source for the anticyclonic gyre found in the western Gulf of Mexico. Two energy sources are considered: the Loop Current through the mechanism of the anticyclonic rings that separate from that current; and the curl of the wind stress. To resolve which of these two mechanisms dominate, the energy input into the western Gulf by each is estimated; they are then compared to each other and to the energetics of the circulation of the western Gulf. The rings and the wind stress mechanisms are first considered descriptively, with the primary emphasis on the time and space scales of the rings and the seasonal variations in the curl. To determine the seasonal curl tau, estimates of the seasonal wind stress by 1/sup 0/ squares were made using all the historical surface marine observations as obtained from the National Climatic Center. Using four quasi-synoptic sets of hydrographic data the APE and KE of the circulation of the western Gulf are estimated to be 2.3 x 10/sup 4/ J/m/sup 2/ and 0.3 x 10/sup 4/ J/m/sup 2/, respectively. A precise value of the mean annual work done on the system by the wind stress could not be obtained. Rather the comparison between the work done by the wind and the energy advected into the system by the rings is made using the maximum APE that could be annually generated by the seasonal wind stress (2.8 x 10/sup 4/ J/m.yr. Therefore, the primary energy source for the western anticyclone must be the westward moving anticyclonic rings.
- Research Organization:
- Texas A and M Univ., College Station (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5374686
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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