Thermohaline circulation of shallow tidal seas

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Hill, A. E., Brown, J., Fernand, L., Holt, J., Horsburgh, K. J., Proctor, R., Raine, R., Turrell, W. R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2008
• Subjects: european continental-shelf; western irish sea; fronts; gyre; Arctic; Argentina
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10379/11930; https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gl033459

The mechanisms controlling the temperature and salinity structure of shallow continental shelf seas have been understood for over thirty years, yet knowledge of what drives their large-scale circulation has remained relatively unknown. Here we describe a decade long programme of measurements, using satellite-tracked drifting buoys on the northwest European shelf, to draw attention to a striking picture of highly organised thermohaline circulation consisting of narrow, near surface, fast flowing jets. These are ubiquitous above sharp horizontal gradients in bottom temperatures and/or salinities. The circulation phenomena we describe are likely to be prevalent on all similar, wide, tidally energetic continental shelves including those off north-eastern China, Argentina and parts of the Arctic. The robust, repeatable observation of the key role of jets above bottom fronts results in a fundamental reassessment of how we view the dynamics of shelf seas.