Previously published physical and biological data document a zonally oriented frontal region within the California Current system separating colder and more eutrophic water north of ≈33°N from warmer; more stratified, and oligotrophic water farther to the south. Satellite images of phytoplankton pigment from the coastal zone color scanner from 1979-1983...
Observations show abrupt changes in the oceanic circulation of the southwestern Atlantic. These
studies report a southward drift of the Brazil/Malvinas Confluence (BMC) and a change in the spectral
characteristics of the Malvinas Current (MC) transport. We address the cause of these changes using the result
of a high-resolution numerical...
Wave and current measurements are presented from a set of laboratory experiments
performed on a fixed barred beach with periodically spaced rip channels using a range of
incident wave conditions. The data demonstrate that the presence of gaps in otherwise
longshore uniform bars dominates the nearshore circulation system for the...
We examine the effects of wave-current interaction on the dynamics of instabilities of
the surf zone longshore current. We utilize coupled models for the simulation of the
incident waves and the wave-induced nearshore circulation. The coupling between the
models occurs through radiation stress gradient terms (accounting for the generation of...
urface wave transformation and the resulting nearshore circulation along a section of coast with strong alongshore bathymetric gradients outside the surf zone are modeled for a consecutive 4 week time period. The modeled hydrodynamics are compared to in situ measurements of waves and currents collected during the Nearshore Canyon Experiment...
Submersible exploration of the Samoan hotspot revealed a new,
300-m-tall, volcanic cone, named Nafanua, in the summit crater of
Vailulu’u seamount. Nafanua grew from the 1,000-m-deep crater
floor in <4 years and could reach the sea surface within decades.
Vents fill Vailulu’u crater with a thick suspension of particulates
and...
We sharpen our view of an eastern boundary current region during
the upwelling season through the analysis of several data sets.
We focus on the mesoscale flow field off of northern California,
observed during the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment of 1988.
First, we estimate tidal currents in the region...
Coastal Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) are known
to spawn in the southern California Bight from January
to March, migrate north during late spring and summer
to feed off Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia,
and then move back to southern California in the fall.
Juvenile Pacific hake nursery areas have been...
Directly wind-coherent near-inertial surface currents off the Oregon coast are investigated with a
statistical parameterization of observations and outputs of a regional numerical ocean model and three one-dimensional
analytical models including the slab layer, Ekman, and near-surface averaged Ekman models. The
transfer functions and response functions, statistically estimated from observed...
We investigate the momentum balance in the surf zone, in a setting which is weakly varying in the alongshore direction. Our focus is on the role of nonlinear advective terms. Using numerical experiments, we find that advection tends to counteract alongshore variations in momentum flux, resulting in more uniform kinematics....