When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography
Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2016.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107086 |
| _version_ | 1826205091655319552 |
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| author | Cherian, Deepak Abraham |
| author2 | Kenneth H. Brink. |
| author_facet | Kenneth H. Brink. Cherian, Deepak Abraham |
| author_sort | Cherian, Deepak Abraham |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2016. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:06:55Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/107086 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:06:55Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1070862022-02-02T20:11:01Z When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography Cherian, Deepak Abraham Kenneth H. Brink. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Physical Oceanography Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Joint Program in Physical Oceanography. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Eddies Oceanography Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2016. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-135). Eddies in the ocean move westwards. Those shed by western boundary currents must then interact with continental shelf-slope topography at the western boundary. The presence of other eddies and mean flows complicates this simple picture, yet satellite images show that mesoscale eddies translating near the shelfbreak routinely affect the continental shelves of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the Gulf of Mexico etc. The consequent cross-shelfbreak transports are currently of unknown importance to shelf budgets of heat, salt and volume. Thus motivated, this thesis uses idealized continuously stratified numerical experiments to explore eddy-slope interactions under four questions: 1. Can the continental slope prevent an eddy from reaching the shelfbreak? 2. What is the structure of the eddy-driven offshore flow? 3. How is the continental shelf affected by an eddy at the shelfbreak? 4. Given surface observations, can one estimate the volume of water transported across the shelfbreak? The experiments show that the efficiency of Rossby wave radiation from the eddy controls whether it can cross isobaths: by radiating energy the eddy becomes shallow enough to move into shallower water. For wide continental slopes, relative to an eddy diameter, a slope can prevent an anticyclone from reaching the shelfbreak by shutting down such radiation. For narrow continental slopes, the interaction repeatedly produces dipoles, whose cyclonic halves contain shelf-slope water stacked over eddy water. The formation of such cyclones is explained. Then, the structure of shelf flows forced by the eddy are studied: their vertical structures are rationalized and scalings derived for their cross-isobath scales; for example, the extent to which the eddy influences the shelf. A recipe for estimating cross-isobath transports based on eddy surface properties is put forward. Finally, the findings are tested against observations in the Middle Atlantic Bight off the northeastern United States. by Deepak Abraham Cherian. Ph. D. 2017-02-22T19:02:54Z 2017-02-22T19:02:54Z 2016 2016 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107086 971247907 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 135 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Joint Program in Physical Oceanography. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Eddies Oceanography Cherian, Deepak Abraham When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title | When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title_full | When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title_fullStr | When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title_full_unstemmed | When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title_short | When an eddy encounters shelf-slope topography |
| title_sort | when an eddy encounters shelf slope topography |
| topic | Joint Program in Physical Oceanography. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Eddies Oceanography |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107086 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cheriandeepakabraham whenaneddyencountersshelfslopetopography |