Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC03 Undergraduate Education

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Szuts, Z, B, Oberlin College, Oberlin, USA, zoltan.szuts@oberlin.edu

Gawarkiewicz, G, G, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA, glen@oldtown.whoi.edu

VARIABILITY OF THERMOHALINE STRUCTURE IN THE SHELFBREAK FRONT IN THE SOUTHERN MIDDLE ATLANTIC BIGHT

Six highly resolved cross-frontal transects taken in the southern Middle Atlantic Bight during the summer allowed us to characterize the fine scale synoptic details present. The water masses seen agree with a climatological mean except with temperatures 1-2 degrees C warmer and with warm core ring water offshore of the shelfbreak in one of the transects. Four of the six transects contained a double front: two fronts twice as small in space and in gradients as the climatological front yet within a 10 km cross-shelf distance of each other. Salinity and density across both of the fronts is consistent with the climatological front. It appears that the climatological front is split in half. In the transect with the offshore warm core ring there is only a very weak density front associated with the strong thermohaline front. Over < 3 km sharp gradients of 6 degrees C in temperature and 1.6 ppt in salinity occur with a change of 0.1 kg m-3 in potential density.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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