On the origin and importance of Swesties

Póster presentado en el 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting, From the Watershed to the Global Ocean, celebrado en Orlando, Florida (Estados Unidos), del 2 al 7 de Marzo de 2008. Pingree (Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc A, 354, 1-45) first observed a SWESTY (Anticyclonic Shallow Subtropical Subducting Wetward Propagat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sangrà, Pablo, Pascual, Ananda, Mason, Evan, Auladell, Maricel, Pelegrí, Josep Lluís
Format: Still Image
Language:unknown
Published: 2008
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/99817
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Summary:Póster presentado en el 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting, From the Watershed to the Global Ocean, celebrado en Orlando, Florida (Estados Unidos), del 2 al 7 de Marzo de 2008. Pingree (Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc A, 354, 1-45) first observed a SWESTY (Anticyclonic Shallow Subtropical Subducting Wetward Propagating Eddies) in the eastern North Atlantic. These are mesoscale long live eddies (nearly 3 years) whose source region is south of the Canary Archipelago. They propagate westward along 26¿N at least until 50¿W. We examine the origin of SWESTIES combining altimeter, drifter data and numerical modelling (ROMS and processes oriented models). Preliminary results suggest that SWESTIES may originate as consequence of the Canary Current perturbation by the Canary Archipelago. Anticyclonic eddies are shed all year long by the central islands, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and during fall by the flow acceleration between the eastern islands (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) and the African Coast. ROMS model results indicates that these eddies introduce strong variability (EKE) along 26¿N, comparable to that generated by the Azores frontal region. Therefore Anticyclonic eddies shed by the Canary Islands may be very important for the zonal transport and mixing of physical and biological properties along the Subtropical Gyre. Peer Reviewed