Circulation in the Northern Gulf of California From Orbital Photographs and Ship Investigations

Upper-ocean circulation patterns in the northern Gulf of California, expressed in Ers-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

“…Based on geostrophic calculations, Bray (1988) showed that the surface circulation of the northern Gulf of California consists of a gyre that is cyclonic during the summer and anticyclonic in spring and autumn. Lepley et al (1975) proposed previously a similar circulation pattern from the analysis of the distribution of suspended sediments expressed in visible…”

“…Basado en estimaciones geostróficas, Bray (1988) mostró que la circulación superficial en la parte norte del Golfo de California consiste en un giro ciclónico durante el verano y anticiclónico en la primavera y el otoño. Lepley et al (1975) propusieron un patrón similar de circulación, a partir del análisis de la distribución por lances hidrográficos. La imagen del SAR muestra también otros giros ciclónicos más pequeños localizados cerca del continente que pudieran estar asociados con la circulación general inducida por el giro anticiclónico.…”

Colorado River flow and biological productivity in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico

“…Most of the seafloor of the Northern Gulf is carpeted with nonconsolidated deposits that originated from the delta, with the finer sediments occurring mainly on its western side and the coarser sediments on its eastern (Sonoran) side (Carriquiry and Sánchez 1999, Carriquiry et al 2001, Hernández-Azcúnaga et al 2014. During spring tides, when tidal currents are strong, the resulting turbulence in the water column resuspends and scatters these sediments to such an extent that they become visible to satellite imagery, especially in the uppermost Gulf and Bahías Adair and San Jorge on the northwest coast of Sonora (Lepley et al 1975, Carabajal et al 1997, Souza et al 2004, Hernández-Azcúnaga et al 2014.…”

Misty boundaries

“…Even though the estuarine system created by fresh water input from the Colorado has ceased, it is still in relative terms, "very productive" mainly due to the seasonal dynamic circulation, coastal upwelling (Lepley et al 1975;Cummings 1977;AlvarezBorrego and Lara-Lara 1991) and the resuspension of river sediments deposited for centuries in the upper Gulf. Overall, the northern Gulf's legendary richness could be attributed to the delta's seasonal productivity which we could only retrace today when estuarine conditions are reestablished in rare occasions.…”