HR: 11:20h
AN: OS52A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: The Colombia Current: An Eastern Tropical Pacific Coastal Current, Early Oceanographic Characteristics
AU: * Rodriguez-Rubio, E
EM: erodriguez@dimar.mil.co
AF: Centro Control Contaminacion del Pacifico (CCCP-DIMAR), Via el Morro, Capitania de Puerto, San Andres de Tumaco, Tumaco, Colombia
AB: Newly gathered hydrographic data from the Colombia Pacific Ocean is combined with remote sensing data to reassess the properties of the costal current named Colombian Current by Wooster (1959). The Colombian Pacific Ocean is located between 84°-76°W and 1°30'-5°N (oceanic zone), 1°30'- 7°N (coastal zone): This area is well-known also like Panama Bight. New hydrographic data were occupied along the Colombian Pacific coast during March of 2006, making 41 stations with measurements of CTD until a maximum depth of 1200 m, depending on the depth of the marine bottom. On the other hand, sea surface temperatures (SST) were obtained from the MODIS-AQUA satellite and sea surface wind speed and wind direction stem from QuickScat, both averaged for March 2006. Hydrographic grid layers necessary to obtain dynamic topography variable were made with objective mapping calculating is not total dynamic height, but the dynamic height between consecutive levels or "thickness". The purpose of this methodology is that in very coastal campaigns it can have a substantial number of stations that do not arrive at the reference level. Finally geostrophic velocity was computed for the Colombian Current area at several layers. The coast was characterized by low salinities due to river runoff in the North zone. The sea surface temperature during the month of March of 2006 was especially low in the oceanic zone, reaching temperatures between 19°C and 24°C.The dynamic topography indicated the presence of a surface coastal current flowing towards the north and a crosscurrent to 400 m of depth never before described. The wind corresponded to the pattern of the wind jet of Panama. During March the ITCZ moves south, drawing the Panama jet across the Isthmus and over the Pacific. Upwelling curl associated with the left (southeast) flank of this jet generates a cyclonic eddy in the Panama Bight and SST cooling in its center. In the Panama Bight, the curl dipole produces a cyclonic circulation with northward flow along the Colombian coast. Cool SST along the coast of Colombia might be a response to the upwelling curl, especially considering that the mean poleward winds favor coastal downwelling.
DE: 4200 OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL
DE: 4223 Descriptive and regional oceanography
DE: 4516 Eastern boundary currents
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly