Cyclonic Eddy and Shelf-Slope Water Exchange Associated with a Gulf Stream Warm-Core Ring

摘要

Warm-core ring (WCR) 83D passed through a linear array of moored temperature, conductivity and velocity sensors during October 1983. Satellite-derived thermal imagery combined with data from the moored sensors have revealed a cold-core cyclonic eddy, of approximately 80-km diameter, traveling in advance of ring 83D. This cyclone, whose angular momentum magnitude was about 1/3 that of the WCR, evolved either during or shortly after the WCR'S formation. Hydrographic and moored sensor data suggest that the WCR brought about a subsurface exchange of shelf and slope water, with around the ring. Examination of 308 cross-shelf hydrographic sections from the Middle Atlantic Bight has indicated that such exchange commonly occurs in the presence of a WCR. This apparent ring-induced exchange may significantly affect the overall salt balance of Middle Atlantic Bight shelf water. Keywords: Shelf-slope water exchange; and Geophysical eddy pairs.