Seasonal variation of the temperature and salinity at the entrance to the gulf of california, mexico

Castro, Rubén; Mascarenhas, A.; Durazo, Reginaldo; Collins, Curtis A.

doi:10.7773/cm.v26i4.621

Cited by 94 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…A similar study, but for the inner mouth of the gulf, has been carried out by Castro et al (2000), Castro Valdez (2001) and Mascarenhas et al (2003), but using closely-spaced CTD stations from nine surveys. Clear seasonal patterns are observed in the fields of temperature, salinity and geostrophic velocity.…”

Section: Thermodynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anomalies observed just outside and inside the GC during an El Niño (Baumgartner and Christensen, 1985;Robles and Marinone, 1987;Ripa and Marinone, 1989;Marinone, 1989;Torres Orozco, 1993;Soto et al, 1999;Filonov and Tereshchenko, 2000;Castro et al, 2000;Durazo and Baumgartner, 2002;Strub and James, 2002b,c;Lavín et al, 2003) are explained by the properties of the internal CTWs: a 10-30 cm surface elevation, a 50-100 m deepening of the surface mixed layer and the thermocline (and a consequent increase in the heat content of the upper 100-200 m). The surface temperature elevation (up to 3 • C) and surface salinity depression (0.1) are associated to the advective properties of a surface-elevation CTW in the presence of horizontal SST and salinity gradients.…”

Section: Interannual Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the inner mouth, the GCW is usually found as surface or subsurface layers or cores of high salinity in the upper 100 m. These cores are most frequently found adjacent to the peninsula, but they have also been detected on the mainland side (Roden and Groves, 1959;Roden, 1971;Castro et al, 2000). The distribution of salinity across the inner mouth in December 1993 (Fig.…”

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A dome is often observed in the deep isotherms across the inner mouth, which is associated to the deep currents and suggests the presence of a gyre (Collins et al, 1997;Mascarenhas et al, 2003). Drastic anomalies occur during El Niño, which consist of deepening of the surface mixed layer and the thermocline up to 50 m from their normal position, an increase in surface temperature of up to 4 • C and a decrease in salinity (0.1-0.2), caused by en extensive invasion of TSW (Lavín et al, 1997b;Castro et al, 2000).…”

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hydrography in the inner mouth has a clear seasonal cycle (Torres Orozco, 1993), especially in temperature and in mixed layer depth (Castro et al, 2000), which varies from 10 m in summer to around 40 m in winter. A dome is often observed in the deep isotherms across the inner mouth, which is associated to the deep currents and suggests the presence of a gyre (Collins et al, 1997;Mascarenhas et al, 2003).…”

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

An Overview of the Physical Oceanography of the Gulf of California

Lavín¹,

Marinone²

2003

Nonlinear Processes in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

167

149

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Abstract. The Gulf of California (GC) presents several oceanographic features that make it unique among semienclosed seas of similar latitude and dimensions, the most important being strong tidal mixing, some of it close to deep stratification. Three-dimensional numerical model results suggest that tidal mixing may be more important than the thermohaline circulation in causing the long-term residual circulation, which consists of outflow in the upper 200 m and inflow below, plus a seasonally-reversing surface layer. The GC is an evaporative basin, but in the mean it gains heat through the surface. Lacking a sill at the point of connection with the Pacific Ocean (PO), the GC is constantly shaken by a wide spectrum of signals coming from the PO, including tides, subinertial trapped waves of various frequencies and El Niño. The seasonal dynamics and thermodynamics of the GC are dominated by the PO, not by local wind or buoyancy flux. Local processes are important at shorter time scales and in altering the thermohaline characteristics of the upper-layer waters. Tidal currents generate internal tides, packets of solitons, and sea surface temperature fronts from which jets may form. Coastal upwelling also seems to generate jets that separate from capes, especially on the mainland coast. The mesoscale off-shore circulation in the GC consists of a series of basin-wide geostrophic gyres that reach below 1000 m; their effect on the mean and seasonal circulation and thermodynamics of the GC remains to be studied. During summer, the currents in the mainland continental shelf are due to coastal trapped waves, while during winter they are wind-driven. The most important interannual anomalies in the GC are due to El Niño.

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Section: Thermodynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interannual Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Entrance Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

An Overview of the Physical Oceanography of the Gulf of California

Lavín¹,

Marinone²

2003

Nonlinear Processes in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

167

149

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Surface circulation in the Gulf of California in summer from surface drifters and satellite images (2004–2006)

Lavín

Castro²,

Beier

et al. 2014

JGR Oceans

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Surface drifters released in the Gulf of California between June 2004 and August 2006 are used to describe the surface circulation in late spring and summer. In the June to September mean, there was a poleward coastal current on the shelf and slope of the mainland side of the Gulf, with mean speed 0.3 m/s; it reached the northern Gulf and joined the cyclonic circulation typical of this zone in summer. In the western half of the southern Gulf, the drifters presented recirculating currents that are due to mesoscale eddies that appear to dominate the surface circulation in summer. In June 2004, the coastal current presented an enhancement event with mean speed around 0.60 m/s and maximum 0.80 m/s. It took 20 days for a particular drifter to travel the 1000 km from the Gulf entrance to the head. This strengthening of the coastal current was apparent in chlorophyll a and SST satellite images, the drifters following closely the intrusion of warm, chlorophyll-poor surface water from outside the Gulf. The drifters and the satellite images suggest that the current-enhancement event lasted less than a month. This mesoscale event was linked with a mesoscale remote forcing in the tropical Pacific coast and with a mesoscale local forcing of the wind. These events seem to occur every year, and are probably important in carrying organisms and properties from the entrance to the whole length of the Gulf.

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Seasonality of the transitional region of the California Current System off Baja California

Durazo¹

2015

JGR Oceans

109

122

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Hydrographic data collected over the period 1997-2013 are analyzed to investigate the seasonality of hydrographic features and associated geostrophic flows off the Baja California peninsula. The upper ocean in the region was found to be homogeneous in winter and spring but subdivided into two regions in the summer and autumn. In the first case, the system typically shows relatively low-temperature and salinity waters, which give it a subarctic character. In the second, only the region north of Punta Eugenia (28 N) maintains subarctic characteristics, while the southern region receives an inflow of tropical and subtropical waters that results from the weakening of northwesterly winds, which allows the poleward advection of surface waters. Also during this period, a positive wind stress curl promotes the zonal advection of North Pacific's eastern edge waters into the coast and to the north as a surface coastal flow. Average seasonal patterns of geostrophic flow at 200 dbar revealed that the differentiation into provinces is also evident at that depth, with two clearly defined cyclonic structures in summer and autumn, both separated at the latitude of Punta Eugenia. The analyses conducted also showed a clear continuity of the California undercurrent along the shelf break, with more diffuse currents in the winter. Poleward flows were observed throughout the water column, especially in summer and autumn, although the origin of the surface flow does not necessarily involve a surfacing of the California Undercurrent.

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Seasonal variation of the temperature and salinity at the entrance to the gulf of california, mexico

Cited by 94 publications

References 10 publications

An Overview of the Physical Oceanography of the Gulf of California

An Overview of the Physical Oceanography of the Gulf of California

Surface circulation in the Gulf of California in summer from surface drifters and satellite images (2004–2006)

Seasonality of the transitional region of the California Current System off Baja California

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