Article
 

Offshore wind forcing in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico: the asymmetric circulation

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9593v125c

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Since the early surveys carried out by the Eastern Tropical Pacific (EASTROPIC) and Scripps Tuna Oceanographic Research (STOR) projects in the tropical Pacific off Mexico, the northerly winds which blow over the Gulf of Tehuantepec were described as an Important factor controlling the dynamics of this coastal ocean. In January-February 1989 an international team carried out the experiment Tehuano, designed to study the response of the gulf to these wind pulses. The complete evolution of the coastal ocean after an event of moderate intensity was observed. The forcing is characterized by a mostly symmetric, fanshaped, offshore wind jet, which in turn produces a remarkably asymmetric upper ocean response. While analytical results based on Ekman theory forced by a symmetric offshore wind predict the formation of a symmetric dipolar circulation, the observed flow consists mainly of a large (200 km in diameter) anticyclonic warm-core eddy in the western gulf, with only a weak cyclonic counterpart in the eastern gulf. Intense surface cooling under the wind jet is caused by entrainment of subsurface water into the upper layer. The thermocline in the west deepens with the development of the eddy, which is formed initially by the advection of warm surface waters from west of the gulf. East of the axis of the wind, the mixed layer deepens due to wind-induced entrainment, while, at the same time, shoaling and compression of the deeper isotherms by curl-induced upwelling (Ekman pumping) strengthen the thermocline.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Trasvina, A., Barton, E. D., Brown, J., Velez, H. S., Kosro, P. M., & Smith, R. L. (1995). Offshore wind forcing in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico: the asymmetric circulation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100(C10), 20649-20663.
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 100
Journal Issue/Number
  • C10
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico).Natural Environment Research Council (United Kingdom) grant GR3/6719.U.S. Office of Naval Research contract N00014-90-J-1177.The British Council grant 922/37.Overseas Research Scheme (United Kingdom).
Publisher
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details Trasvina_et_al_JGR_1995.pdf 2017-12-06 Public Download