Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2006 The continuous supply of heat and fresh water from the boundaries to the interior of the Labrador Sea plays an...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1777 |
id |
ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/1777 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/1777 2023-05-15T17:05:59+02:00 Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data Rykova, Tatiana A. Labrador Sea 2006-06 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1777 en_US eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1777 doi:10.1575/1912/1777 doi:10.1575/1912/1777 Eddies Hydrography Thesis 2006 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1777 2022-05-28T22:57:22Z Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2006 The continuous supply of heat and fresh water from the boundaries to the interior of the Labrador Sea plays an important role for the dynamics of the region and in particular, for the Labrador Sea Water formation. Thus, it is necessary to understand the factors governing the exchange of properties between the boundary and interior. A significant fraction of heat and fresh water, needed to balance the annual heat loss and to contribute to the seasonal freshening of the Labrador Sea, is thought to be provided by coherent long-lived anticyclonic eddies shed by the Irminger Current. The population, some properties, rates and direction of propagation of these anomalies are known but the evolution and the mechanism of their decay are still far from obvious. In this work I investigated their water mass properties and evolution under the strong wintertime forcing using hydrographic data from 1990-2004 and a 1-dimensional mixed layer model. There were 50 eddies found in the hydrographic data record, 48 of which were identified as anticyclones. Vertical structure of the eddies was investigated, leading to the categorization of all the anticyclones into three classes: 12 - with a fresh surface layer and no mixed layer, 18 - without a fresh layer and at least one mixed layer, and 18 with ambiguous vertical structure. Four eddies of the second group appeared to have cores extending to as deep as 1500 m vertically and an isopycnal displacement of 400-600 m. A number of eddies without a fresh water cap contained Labrador Sea Water from the previous year at mid-depths. Thesis Labrador Sea Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Woods Hole, MA |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Eddies Hydrography |
spellingShingle |
Eddies Hydrography Rykova, Tatiana A. Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
topic_facet |
Eddies Hydrography |
description |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2006 The continuous supply of heat and fresh water from the boundaries to the interior of the Labrador Sea plays an important role for the dynamics of the region and in particular, for the Labrador Sea Water formation. Thus, it is necessary to understand the factors governing the exchange of properties between the boundary and interior. A significant fraction of heat and fresh water, needed to balance the annual heat loss and to contribute to the seasonal freshening of the Labrador Sea, is thought to be provided by coherent long-lived anticyclonic eddies shed by the Irminger Current. The population, some properties, rates and direction of propagation of these anomalies are known but the evolution and the mechanism of their decay are still far from obvious. In this work I investigated their water mass properties and evolution under the strong wintertime forcing using hydrographic data from 1990-2004 and a 1-dimensional mixed layer model. There were 50 eddies found in the hydrographic data record, 48 of which were identified as anticyclones. Vertical structure of the eddies was investigated, leading to the categorization of all the anticyclones into three classes: 12 - with a fresh surface layer and no mixed layer, 18 - without a fresh layer and at least one mixed layer, and 18 with ambiguous vertical structure. Four eddies of the second group appeared to have cores extending to as deep as 1500 m vertically and an isopycnal displacement of 400-600 m. A number of eddies without a fresh water cap contained Labrador Sea Water from the previous year at mid-depths. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Rykova, Tatiana A. |
author_facet |
Rykova, Tatiana A. |
author_sort |
Rykova, Tatiana A. |
title |
Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
title_short |
Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
title_full |
Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
title_fullStr |
Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evolution of the Irminger Current anticyclones in the Labrador Sea from hydrographic data |
title_sort |
evolution of the irminger current anticyclones in the labrador sea from hydrographic data |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1777 |
op_coverage |
Labrador Sea |
genre |
Labrador Sea |
genre_facet |
Labrador Sea |
op_source |
doi:10.1575/1912/1777 |
op_relation |
WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1777 doi:10.1575/1912/1777 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1777 |
op_publisher_place |
Woods Hole, MA |
_version_ |
1766060868261380096 |