Effect of the Canary Islands in the blockage and mixing of the North Atlantic eastern water masses

We apply an inverse model to a hydrographic cruise that completely closes the Canary Islands to investigate their effect on the water masses transports. Most central waters are transported south between the eastern islands and the African coast, with 2.5 Sv out of a total of 3.5 Sv. Intermediate wat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Machín, F., Pelegrí Llopart, José Luis
Other Authors: Machin, Francisco, Pelegri, Josep, 6602804374, 7003869003, 1451397, 358123
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:Spanish
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10553/10156
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025048
Description
Summary:We apply an inverse model to a hydrographic cruise that completely closes the Canary Islands to investigate their effect on the water masses transports. Most central waters are transported south between the eastern islands and the African coast, with 2.5 Sv out of a total of 3.5 Sv. Intermediate waters are effectively blocked by the islands passages, with Mediterranean/Antarctic waters predominantly found north/south of the islands, and most deep waters loop around the archipelago plateau. A process model upholds the existence of intense two-way exchange between central and intermediate waters along the eastern passage, with vertical velocities of order 10 m s.