| The flow through the Yucatan Channel, dominated by the Yucatan Current, is anintegral part of the North Atlantic Ocean Subtropical Gyre circulation with animportant contribution from the inter-hemispheric Meridional Overturning Cell.The Yucatan Current is the Gyre′s branch flowing from the Caribbean into theGulf of Mexico, where it gives origin to the Loop Current, and upon exiting theGulf, to the Florida and Gulf Stream Currents. In recent years the YucatanChannel and its adjacent regions have been the subject of intensiveobservational and numerical studies. An evident aspect of the upper layercurrent patterns in the Caribbean Sea, both observed and modeled, is theubiquitous presence of meso-scale eddies passing through the region advected bythe mean current flow (dominantly north-westward). Some of these eddiesoriginate in the equatorial region at the retroflexion of the North BrazilCurrent and seem to influence significantly the observed structure and variability of the Yucatan Current.There are indications that the time-dependent potential vorticity flux betweenthe Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, is intimately related to the Loop Currentbehavior and eddy-shedding characteristics. The mean transport across the Yucatan Channel during two years of continuous measurements(August 1999-July 2001) is 23.2 Sv, which is about 10 Sv less than that reported from historical measurements in the Florida Strait at the cable sectionoff Settlement Point. This important transport discrepancy is yetunresolved. |
|
|