Cross-shelf sediment transport by an anticyclonic eddy off northern california.

نویسندگان

  • L Washburn
  • M S Swenson
  • J L Largier
  • P M Kosro
  • S R Ramp
چکیده

A combination of satellite imagery, shipboard profiles, drifter tracks, and moored current observations reveals that an anticyclonic eddy off the coast of northern California transported plumes of suspended sediments from the continental shelf into the deep ocean. The horizontal scale of the eddy was about 90 kilometers, and the eddy remained over the continental shelf and slope for about 2 months during the summer of 1988. The total mass of sediments transported by the eddy was of order 105 metric tons. Mesoscale eddies are recurrent features in this region and occur frequently in eastern boundary currents. These results provide direct evidence that eddies export sediments from continental shelves.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Sediment Trapping and Dispersal on River- Influenced Continental Shelves

Many of the processes that transport sediment in coastal seas (wave/current resuspension, wind-, tidal-, and buoyancy-forced currents) are included in a three-dimensional, numerical model that has been applied to the Eel River shelf, northern California (Harris, Geyer and Signell, 2000). This accurately estimates the volume of sediment deposited on the shelf by floods of the Eel River, but pred...

متن کامل

Distribution of DDT and other persistent organic contaminants in Canyons and on the continental shelf off the central California coast.

Sediment samples were collected to delineate the distribution of contaminants along the central California coast. Sampling included a variety of Canyons and shelf/slope areas to evaluate contaminant transport patterns and potential delivery to Canyons and the continental slope to a depth of 1200 m. Sediments were collected and analyzed for organic contaminants using standard techniques of the N...

متن کامل

A census of oceanic anticyclonic eddies in the Gulf of Alaska

In the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), mesoscale eddies play an important role in promoting off-shelf transport of heat, nutrients and biological populations into the HNLC water of the northeast Pacific Ocean. However, the spatial and temporal distribution of these eddies and their characteristics have not been substantially described. Here we apply an objective method (Okubo–Weiss parameter) for identif...

متن کامل

Subtidal Cross - Shelf Circulation on the Northern California Shelf

Moored time series from the Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment (CODE), Shelf Mixed Layer Experiment (SMILE), Sediment Transport Events over the Shelf and Slope (STRESS) study, and Northern California Coastal Circulation Study (NCCCS) are used to study subtidal cross-shelf circulation over the northern California shelf. The northern California shelf, like much of the United States Pacific coast, ...

متن کامل

An avenue of eddies: Quantifying the biophysical properties of mesoscale eddies in the Tasman Sea

[1] The Tasman Sea is unique characterised by a strong seasonal western boundary current that breaks down into a complicated field of mesoscale eddies almost immediately after separating from the coast. Through a 16-year analysis of Tasman Sea eddies, we identify a region along the southeast Australian coast which we name ‘Eddy Avenue’ where eddies have higher sea level anomalies, faster rotati...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Science

دوره 261 5128  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 1993