Mixing processes between shelf and deep sea waters off the Texas coast.

Date

1971

Authors

Ichiye, T.
Sudo, H.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas A&M University, Department of Oceanography

Abstract

Forty STD stations as well as four Nansen cast stations and eighteen BT stations were made during a cruise of March 18-22 on board the Alaminos south of Galveston on the continental shelf and slope. The data indicate that the coastal water was not found except at the nearest station less than twenty miles from the coast and that temperature increases offshore but salinity increases eastwards. STD traces of the stations on the slope indicate that there are several high salinity cores of thickness a few tens of meters and numerous low salinity spikes of thickness less than 10 m. A frequency equation for the internal waves yields unstable modes when vertical eddy diffusivity is larger for temperature than for salinity. The e-time amplification of such waves with horizontal scales of about 10 km is of an order of one day when the vertical eddy diffusivity is 1 cm sq/sec.

Description

26 p.

Keywords

physical oceanography, oceanography, salinity gradients, water waves

Citation