Evolution of stratification over the New England shelf during the Coastal Mixing and Optics study, August 1996–June 1997

Lentz, Steven J.; Shearman, Kipp; Anderson, S. W.; Plueddemann, A. J.; Edson, J. B.

doi:10.1029/2001jc001121

Cited by 79 publications

(121 citation statements)

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“…The water at the shallower site was generally warmer than the water offshore in summer, and colder in winter. These results are all consistent with previous observations of the seasonal cycle of temperature of Middle Atlantic Bight shelf waters (Bigelow, 1933;Linder and Gawarkiewicz, 1998;Lentz et al, 2003b;Lentz, 2007b, and others). In addition, we observe reversals of the cross-shelf temperature gradient between the 12-and 27-m isobaths in the upper 12 m of the water column on time scales of days in all seasons (Figure 4-5).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The cross-shelf heat flux is an important cooling mechanism for the shallow inner Lentz et al (2003b); National Ocean Data Center (NODC) archived shipboard data are described in Lentz et al (2003b); lightship temperature measurements are described at http://dlaweb.whoi.edu/DIG RES/lightship data.html; for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Hatteras Study, see Berger et al (1994). (F,Node) , as a function of time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…States display a strong seasonal variation in temperature (Bigelow, 1933;Fuglister, 1947;Ketchum et al, 1951;Wright and Parker, 1976;Mayer et al, 1979;Beardsley and Boicourt, 1981;Han and Niedrauer, 1981;Beardsley et al, 1985;Linder and Gawarkiewicz, 1998;Lentz et al, 2003b;Mountain, 2003;Shearman and Lentz, 2003, and others). In winter the water temperature is near the freezing point, and in summer the near-surface temperature exceeds 20…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cross-shelf circulation and momentum and heat balances over the inner continental shelf near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Fewings¹

2007

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The water circulation and evolution of water temperature over the inner continental shelf are investigated using observations of water velocity, temperature, density, and bottom pressure; surface gravity waves; wind stress; and heat flux between the ocean and atmosphere during 2001-2007. When waves are small, cross-shelf wind stress is the dominant mechanism driving cross-shelf circulation. The along-shelf wind stress does not drive a substantial crossshelf circulation. The response to a given wind stress is stronger in summer than winter. The cross-shelf transport in the surface layer during winter agrees with a two-dimensional, unstratified model. During large waves and onshore winds the crossshelf velocity is nearly vertically uniform, because the wind-and wave-driven shears cancel. During large waves and offshore winds the velocity is strongly vertically sheared because the wind-and wave-driven shears have the same sign.The subtidal, depth-average cross-shelf momentum balance is a combination of geostrophic balance and a coastal set-up and set-down balance driven by the crossshelf wind stress. The estimated wave radiation stress gradient is also large. The dominant along-shelf momentum balance is between the wind stress and pressure gradient, but the bottom stress, acceleration, Coriolis, Hasselmann wave stress, and nonlinear advection are not negligible. The fluctuating along-shelf pressure gradient is a local sea level response to wind forcing, not a remotely generated pressure gradient.In summer, the water is persistently cooled due to a mean upwelling circulation. The cross-shelf heat flux nearly balances the strong surface heating throughout midsummer, so the water temperature is almost constant. The along-shelf heat flux divergence is apparently small. In winter, the change in water temperature is closer to that expected due to the surface cooling. Heat transport due to surface gravity waves is substantial.Thesis Supervisor:

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cross-shelf circulation and momentum and heat balances over the inner continental shelf near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Fewings¹

2007

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“…[3] Water temperatures on the New England shelf undergo a large seasonal variation, with depth-averaged temperatures at mid-shelf ranging from a maximum of about 12°C in late summer to a minimum of about 5°C in late winter [Bigelow, 1933;Mayer et al, 1979;Beardsley et al, 1985;Lentz et al, 2003a]. This seasonal variation is qualitatively consistent with the seasonal variation in surface heat flux, i.e., surface warming in spring and summer and surface cooling in fall and winter [Beardsley and Boicourt, 1981;Joyce, 1987;Mountain et al, 1996;Beardsley et al, 2003].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Salinity variations on the shelf are assumed to be primarily due to advection, since evaporation minus precipitation is small [Beardsley and Boicourt, 1981;Joyce, 1987]. Potentially important contributions to salinity variability on the New England shelf include along-shelf advection of freshwater runoff and cross-shelf displacements of the shelf-slope front that separates the relatively fresh shelf water from saltier slope water [e.g., Bigelow and Sears, 1935;Manning, 1991;Linder and Gawarkiewicz, 1998;Lentz et al, 2003a].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat and salt balances over the New England continental shelf, August 1996 to June 1997

2010

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Heat and salt balances over the New England shelf are examined using 10 month time series of currents, temperature, and salinity from a four element moored array and surface heat and freshwater fluxes from a meteorological buoy. A principal result is closure of the heat budget to 10 W m−2. The seasonal variation in depth‐average temperature, from 14°C in September to 5°C in March, was primarily due to the seasonal variation in surface heat flux and a heat loss in winter caused by along‐shelf advection of colder water from the northeast. Conductivity sensor drifts precluded closing the salt balance on time scales of months or longer. For time scales of days to weeks, depth‐average temperature and salinity variability were primarily due to advection. Advective heat and salt flux divergences were strongest and most complex in winter, when there were large cross‐shelf temperature and salinity gradients at the site due to the shelf‐slope front that separates cooler, fresher shelf water from warmer, saltier slope water. Onshore flow of warm, salty slope water near the bottom and offshore flow of cooler, fresher shelf water due to persistent eastward (upwelling‐favorable) winds caused a temperature increase of nearly 3°C and a salinity increase of 0.8 in winter. Along‐shelf barotropic tidal currents caused a temperature decrease of 1.5°C and a salinity decrease of 0.7. Wave‐driven Stokes drift caused a temperature increase of 0.5°C and a salinity increase of 0.4 from mid December to January when there were large waves and large near‐surface cross‐shelf temperature and salinity gradients.

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An anomalous near-bottom cross-shelf intrusion of slope water on the southern New England continental shelf

Ullman

Codiga

Pfeiffer-Herbert

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Oceans

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Hydrographic surveys and moored observations in Rhode Island Sound (RIS) in water depths of 30-50 m, off the southern New England coast, revealed a near-bottom intrusion of anomalously warm and saline water in late fall 2009. The properties of this water mass, with peak salinity of nearly 35, are typical of slope water that is normally found offshore of the shelfbreak front, located approximately 100 km to the south. The slope water intrusion, with a horizontal spatial scale of about 45 km, appears to have been brought onto the outer shelf during the interaction of a Gulf Stream warm core ring with the shelfbreak east (upshelf) of RIS. The along-shelf transport rate of the intrusion can be explained as due to advection by the mean outer-shelf along-isobath current, although the transit time of the intrusion is also consistent with the self-advection of a dense bolus on a sloping shelf. The mechanism responsible for the large onshore movement of the intrusion from the outer shelf is not entirely clear, although a wind-driven upwelling circulation appeared to be responsible for its final movement into the RIS region. Depth-averaged salinity at all RIS mooring sites increased by 0.5-1 over the 3-4 week intrusion period suggesting that the intrusion mixed irreversibly, at least partially, with the ambient shelf water. The mixing of the salty intrusion over the shelf indicates that net cross-isobath fluxes of salt and other water properties have occurred.

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Evolution of stratification over the New England shelf during the Coastal Mixing and Optics study, August 1996–June 1997

Cited by 79 publications

References 25 publications

Cross-shelf circulation and momentum and heat balances over the inner continental shelf near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Cross-shelf circulation and momentum and heat balances over the inner continental shelf near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Heat and salt balances over the New England continental shelf, August 1996 to June 1997

An anomalous near-bottom cross-shelf intrusion of slope water on the southern New England continental shelf

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