Heather H. Furey

Japan/East Sea Intrathermocline Eddies

Abstract Intrathermocline eddies (ITE) with diameters of 100 km and of thickness greater than 100 m are observed within each of the three quasi-stationary meanders of the Tsushima Current of the Japan/East Sea. Within the ITE homogenous, anticyclonic flowing core, the temperature is near 10°C with a salinity of 34.12 psu. Because of compensatory baroclinicity of the upper and lower boundaries of the ITE core, the ITE has minor sea level expression. The ITE core displays positive oxygen and negative salinity anomalies in comparison to the surrounding thermocline water, indicative of formation from winter mixed layer water along the southern side of the Japan/East Sea subpolar front. The winter mixing layer is then overridden, or slips below, the regional upper thermocline stratification with its characteristic salinity maximum layer. The winter mixed layer off the coast of Korea closely matches the ITE core characteristics, and is considered as a potential source region. Other sources may be present along ...

Two Years of Observations of Warm-Core Anticyclones in the Labrador Sea and Their Seasonal Cycle in Heat and Salt Stratification

AbstractBetween 25 September 2007 and 28 September 2009, a heavily instrumented mooring was deployed in the Labrador Sea, offshore of the location where warm-core, anticyclonic Irminger rings are formed. The 2-year time series offers insight into the vertical and horizontal structure of newly formed Irminger rings and their heat and salt transport into the interior basin. In 2 years, 12 Irminger rings passed by the mooring. Of these, 11 had distinct properties, while 1 anticyclone likely passed the mooring twice. Eddy radii (11–35 km) were estimated using the dynamic height signal of the anticyclones (8–18 cm) together with the observed velocities. The anticyclones show a seasonal cycle in core properties when observed (1.9°C in temperature and 0.07 in salinity at middepth) that has not been described before. The temperature and salinity are highest in fall and lowest in spring. Cold, fresh caps, suggested to be an important source of freshwater, were seen in spring but were almost nonexistent in fall. Th...

Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water transport variability through the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone and the impact of the North Atlantic Current

The Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ), a deep and wide gap in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 52°N, is a gateway between the eastern and western subpolar regions for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). In 2010-2012, an eight-mooring array of current meters and temperature/salinity sensors was installed across the CGFZ between 500 m and the sea floor to measure the mean transport of westward-flowing Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW), and investigate the impact of the eastward-flowing North Atlantic Current (NAC) on ISOW transport variability. The 22-month record mean ISOW transport through the CGFZ, -1.7 ± 0.5 Sv (95% confidence interval), is 30% lower than the previously published estimate based on 13 months of current-only measurements, -2.4 Sv ± 1.2 Sv [Saunders, 1994]. The latter mean estimate may have been biased high due to the lack of continuous salinity measurements, although the two estimates are not statistically different due to strong mesoscale variability in both data sets. Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis and maps of satellite-derived absolute dynamic topography show that weak westward ISOW transport events and eastward reversals, are caused by northward meanders of the NAC, with its deep-reaching eastward velocities. These results add to growing evidence that a significant fraction of ISOW exits the Iceland Basin by routes other than the CGFZ.

Red Sea Outflow Experiment (REDSOX): DLD2 RAFOS Float Data Report February 2001 - March 2003

Abstract : This is the final data report of all acoustically tracked second-generation Deep Lagrangian Drifter (DLD2) RAFOS float data collected by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 2001-2003 during the Red Sea Outflow Experiment (REDSOX). The float component of REDSOX was comprised of two deployments on the R/V Knorr and R/V Ewing: the first in February-March 2001, with 26 floats, and the second in August-September 2001, with 27 floats. The isobaric floats were ballasted for 650 decibars to target the intermediate-depth, high-salinity outflow waters from the Red Sea. The objectives of the Lagrangian float study were: (1) to identify the spreading pathways of the equilibrated Red Sea outflow, and to quantify the velocities and eddy variability typical of this outflow and of the background oceanic environment in the Gulf of Aden, and (2) to identify and describe the mesoscale processes which contribute to the seaward transport of Red Sea Overflow Water properties through the Gulf of Aden and into the western Indian Ocean. In addition to floats activated and launched during the two cruises, four time-series sites were chosen for dual-release float moorings. The dual-release floats were released every two months between cruises and every two months after the second cruise, with the final release in March 2002. A pirate attack on the R/V Ewing forced some modification of the float deployment plan during the second cruise.

Dominant Circulation Patterns of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

AbstractThe large-scale circulation of the bottom layer of the Gulf of Mexico is analyzed, with special attention to the historically least studied western basin. The analysis is based on 4 years o...

Eddy Seeding in the Labrador Sea: A Submerged Autonomous Launch Platform Application

AbstractTwo submerged autonomous launch platforms (SALPs) were deployed at 500-m depth on a deep-water mooring in the northeastern Labrador Sea from 2007 to 2009 to automatically release profiling floats into passing warm-core anticyclonic Irminger Rings (IRs). The objective was to investigate the rings’ vertical structure and evolution as they drifted from their formation site near the western coast of Greenland to the area of deep convection in the south-central part of the basin. Mechanically and electronically, the SALP worked well: 10 out of 11 floats were successfully released from the mooring over 2 years. However, getting floats trapped in eddy cores using a preprogrammed release algorithm based on temperature and pressure (a proxy for current speed) measured by the SALPs met with limited success mainly because 1) the floats settled at a park pressure that was initially too deep, below the volume of water trapped in the eddy core; 2) the eddies translated past the mooring much more quickly than an...

Hydrography of the Gulf of Mexico Using Autonomous Floats

ABSTRACTFourteen autonomous profiling floats, equipped with CTDs, were deployed in the deep eastern and western basins of the Gulf of Mexico over a four-year interval (July 2011–August 2015), produ...

Detangling spaghetti: Tracking deep ocean currents in the Gulf of Mexico

ABSTRACT Creation of physical models can help students learn science by enabling them to be more involved in the scientific process of discovery and to use multiple senses during investigations. This activity achieves these goals by having students model ocean currents in the Gulf of Mexico. In general, oceans play a key role in influencing weather patterns and climate. Water movement also affects fisheries through transport of various fish and invertebrate species as well as their predators and prey. Currents also impact the dispersion of pollutants, as in after an oil spill such as the catastrophe of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010. Currents exist deep in the ocean, and they do not always travel in the same direction as currents at the surface. This concept of the existence of ocean currents below the surface can be hard to explain, but we provide methodology for sharing this information in a way that is accessible to K–12 students, including the visually impaired. In addition to the NGSS standards and Ocean Literacy principles addressed, this activity has larger implications related to socioeconomics and international law.