HR: 16:45h
AN: OS54B-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Poleward flow events around Pt. Conception, California: An analysis based on HF radar and moored time series
AU: * Washburn, L
EM: washburn@icess.ucsb.edu
AF: ICESS/Dept. of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060 United States
AU: Blanchette, C A
EM: blanchet@lifesci.ucsb.edu
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 United States
AU: Cudaback, C N
EM: cynthia_cudaback@ncsu.edu
AF: Department of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Science North Carolina State University, P.O. Box 8208, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208 United States
AU: Emery, B M
EM: emery@icess.ucsb.edu
AF: ICESS/Dept. of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060 United States
AU: Gotschalk, C
EM: gots@lifesci.ucsb.edu
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 United States
AB: Following relaxations and reversals in the prevailing equatorward winds off the Central California coast, bands of warm water flow poleward alongshore around Point Conception. Satellite sea surface temperature images show the events as bands of warm water extending from the Santa Barbara Channel around the Point. We use time series of currents and temperature from an alongshore array of inner shelf moorings (15 m water depth), moorings on the mid-shelf (100 m water depth), and high frequency radar observations to determine the space and time scales of these poleward flow events. Comparison of moored time series between the inner and mid-shelf show that the events are often confined to the inner shelf where they occur frequently throughout the year. After equatorward winds relax or reverse, the events propagate northward at about 10-13 km/ day. As they pass along the coast, they raise inner shelf temperatures from 3-5 C for a few to several days. Some events propagate completely across the alongshore moored array while others stop within the array when upwelling favorable winds resume. We speculate that these events are important mechanisms for transporting organisms poleward, against the prevailing equatorward flow of the California Current System.
UR: http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/iog/iog.html
DE: 4219 Continental shelf processes
DE: 4279 Upwelling and convergences
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312)
DE: 4516 Eastern boundary currents
DE: 4546 Nearshore processes
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting