Response of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current to Variability in Remote Forcing

University Of Miami, Coral Gables FL

Investigators

Abstract

The movement of water from the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest sources of northward heat transport in the Atlantic Ocean. While in the Gulf of Mexico, some water is diverted eastward through the Florida Straits and forms the beginning of the Gulf Stream while some may be diverted into the Loop Current Eddy. Therefore, the Loop Current has a strong influence on the Gulf circulation and on Florida Current transports. Therefore, the variability of the Loop Current has a broad impact on the meteorological and oceanographic conditions within the Gulf of Mexico. The aim of this study is to provide predictability of the Loop Current between the Yucatan and the Florida Straits. Using field data analysis, theoretical and analytical models as well as results from the numerical circulation models MICOM and HYCOM, they plan to address several key issues including the eddy fluxes and their variability across the Antilles passages, the dynamical structure and the stability properties of the Caribbean Current, how different forcings affect the variability of the Caribbean Basin and the Loop Current.