Flow modification and shelf‐slope exchange induced by a submarine canyon off the northeast Spanish coast

We present results from a study of the modifications induced by the short-timescale response of a shelf break baroclinic jet to the presence of a downstream canyon. The field site was the Canyon of Palamos, located in the northeastern edge of Spain. To determine the short time scale variability of the area, three intensive surveys were carried out at approximately 10-day intervals. Data indicate that the jet's location, usually over the slope, is subjected to significant onshore-offshore displacements. Analysis of the data has shown the importance of a small-scale temporal variability induced by river runoff and the climatology of the area. This variability generates on(off)shore displacements of the jet which interacts with the head(mouth) of the canyon. The different interactions with the canyon induced by these displacements produce different regimes of shelf-slope exchange in the canyon domain that strongly modify the biomass patterns in the area.

[1]  J. Klinck.  Geostrophic Adjustment Over Submarine Canyons , 1989 .

[2]  B. Butman,et al.  The structure of subtidal currents within and around Lydonia Canyon: Evidence for enhanced cross‐shelf fluctuations over the mouth of the canyon , 1989 .

[3]  B. Hickey.  Chapter 2 Patterns and Processes of Circulation over the Washington Continental Shelf and Slope , 1989 .

[4]  H. Freeland,et al.  Currents along the pacific coast of Canada , 1984 .

[5]  D. Inman,et al.  Currents in Submarine Canyons: An Air-Sea-Land Interaction , 1976 .

[6]  J. Tintoré,et al.  Variability of the shelf water off the northeast Spanish coast , 1991 .

[7]  K. Hunkins.  Mean and tidal currents in Baltimore canyon , 1988 .

[8]  A. Sabatés.  Distribution pattern of larval fish populations in the Northwestern Mediterranean , 1990 .

[9]  A. Hay,et al.  Wind and topographic effects on the Labrador Current at Carson Canyon , 1987 .

[10]  C. Duarte,et al.  The spatial and temporal structure of hydrographic and phytoplankton biomass heterogeneity along the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean) , 1989 .

[11]  M. J. García,et al.  Surface circulation variability in the Balearic Basin , 1994 .

[12]  Miquel Canals Artigas,et al.  Toponímia de la mar catalano-balear: (amb un glossari de termes genèrics) , 1982 .

[13]  J. Tintoré,et al.  Eddies and Thermohaline Intrusions of the Shelf/Slope Front off the Northeast Spanish Coast , 1990 .

[14]  Thomas M. Powell,et al.  Effects of physical processes on planktonic ecosystems in the coastal ocean , 1984 .

[15]  Joaquín Tintoré Subirana,et al.  Coastal flow modification by submarine canyons along the NE Spanish coast , 1990 .

[16]  A. Sabatés,et al.  Relationship between zooplankton distribution, geographic characteristics and hydrographic patterns off the Catalan coast (Western Mediterranean) , 1989 .

[17]  R. Hughes,et al.  On the behavior of boundary undercurrents near canyons , 1990 .

[18]  J. Klinck.  The influence of a narrow transverse canyon on initially geostrophic flow , 1988 .

[19]  M. Masó,et al.  Unusual larval fish distribution pattern in coastal zone of the western Mediterranean , 1992 .

[20]  R. Hughes.  The Hydraulics of Local Separation in a Coastal Current with Application to the Kuroshio Meander , 1989 .

[21]  X. D. D. Madron.  Hydrography and nepheloid structures in the Grand-Rhoˆne canyon , 1994 .

[22]  R. Hughes.  On the role of criticality in coastal flows over irregular bottom topography , 1986 .

[23]  M. Estrada.  Deep Phytoplankton and Chlorophyll Maxima in the Western Mediterranean , 1985 .

[24]  A. Sabatés,et al.  Effect of a shelf-slope front on the spatial distribution of mesopelagic fish larvae in the western Mediterranean , 1990 .

[25]  J. Hare,et al.  Beyond hydrography: can physical processes explain larval fish assemblages within the Middle Atlantic Bight? : Larval fish assemblages and oceanic boundaries , 1993 .

[26]  D. A. Brooks,et al.  On vertical motion, divergence, and the thermal wind balance in cold‐dome meanders: A diagnostic study , 1985 .

[27]  V. Fiekas,et al.  Mesoscale Instability and Upwelling. Part 1: Observations at the North Atlantic Intergyre Front , 1994 .

[28]  E. Baker,et al.  Suspended particle movement in and around Quinault submarine Canyon , 1986 .