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A numerical study of the circulation and monthly-to-seasonal variability in the Caribbean Sea: the role of Caribbean eddies

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Abstract

This study examines the circulation and associated monthly-to-seasonal variability in the Caribbean Sea using a regional ocean circulation model. The model domain covers the region between 99.0 and 54.0°W and between 8.0 and 30.3°N, with a horizontal resolution of 1/6°. The ocean circulation model is driven by 6-hourly atmospheric reanalysis data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and boundary forcing extracted from 5-day global ocean reanalysis data produced by Smith et al. (Mercator Newsletter 36:39–49, 2010), and integrated for 7 years. A comparison of model results with observations demonstrates that the regional ocean circulation model has skill in simulating circulation and associated variability in the study region. Analysis of the model results, as well as a companion model run that uses steady annual mean forcing, illustrates the role of Caribbean eddies for driving monthly-to-seasonal circulation variability in the model. It is found that vertically integrated transport between Nicaragua and Jamaica is influenced by the interaction between the density perturbations associated with Caribbean eddies and the Nicaraguan Ridge. The impact of Caribbean eddies squeezing through the Yucatan Channel is also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Julio Sheinbaum for providing the observations taken during the CANEK program, Greg Smith for providing the global ocean reanalysis data, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. This work was funded by the NSERC/MARTEC/EC Industrial Research Chair awarded to RJG and JS and an NSERC Discovery Grant to JS. RJG is also grateful for support from IFM-GEOMAR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada

    Yuehua Lin & Jinyu Sheng

  2. ASL Environmental Sciences, Victoria, BC, V8M 1Z5, Canada

    Yuehua Lin

  3. Leibniz Institut für Meereswissenshaften an der Universität Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Richard J. Greatbatch

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  1. Yuehua Lin
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  2. Jinyu Sheng
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  3. Richard J. Greatbatch
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Correspondence to Yuehua Lin.

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Responsible Editor: Karen J. Heywood

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Lin, Y., Sheng, J. & Greatbatch, R.J. A numerical study of the circulation and monthly-to-seasonal variability in the Caribbean Sea: the role of Caribbean eddies. Ocean Dynamics 62, 193–211 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0498-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0498-0

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