A STUDY OF DENSE WATER FORMATION OVER ROCKALL BANK ...

• Main Author: O'NEILL, CLARE KATHERINE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Plymouth 2008
• Subjects: North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24382/3692; https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/1754

Rockall Bank is a large undersea bank situated in the north-east Atlantic. The region features steep bathymetry with the depth of Rockall Trough reaching 3000 m, rising to the surface at Rockall rock itself. Winter convective mixing in this area is strong and can reach 600 m or more. As this is deeper than a significant proportion of the bank, the water column above the bank becomes cooler than in the surrounding area, and a "cold water patch" forms. This water has been observed moving off the slope as a dense water cascade, a process that is important for shelf-ocean exchange and ventilation and which is also biologically important. This research contributes to knowledge of the dense water formation over Rockall Bank by analysing remotely-sensed data as well as numerical model results. Within this study: i) satellite sea surface temperature data were obtained for a ten year time series and the presence and properties of the surface cold water patch were investigated, and ii) the POLCOMS numerical model was ...