Variability of Deep Water in Jordan Basin of the Gulf of Maine: Influence of Gulf Stream Warm Core Rings and the Nova Scotia Current

Abstract

As the nutrient-rich subsurface slope water intruding into the deep basin of the Gulf of Maine (GoM) supports the high biological productivity in the semi-enclosed gulf, it is important to understand the process and time scale of such slope water intrusion. This study focuses on variations of the GoM deep water on seasonal to interannual time scales and the influences of open ocean processes on the temporal variation of the deep water properties. Based on long-term monitoring data, it is found that the deep water at Jordan Basin (one of three major basins in the GoM) is persistently warmer in winter than in summer, which is distinctly different from the seasonality of surface water in the basin and the deep water on neighboring shelf seas. The unique seasonality in the deep GoM reflects a time-lagged response to shoreward intrusion of the subsurface slope water off the GoM. Both observation-based lag-correlation analyses and numerical simulations confirm a timescale of approximately 3 months for the intruding subsurface slope water to flow from Northeast Channel to Jordan Basin. Properties of the intruding slope water at the Northeast Channel were significantly correlated with the Gulf Stream position and dramatically impacted by episodic warm-core rings shed from Gulf Stream. Inside the deep GoM, the intruding slope water was also indirectly affected by the fresher water input from Nova Scotia Current. Spreading of the fresher water inside the gulf strengthens near-surface stratification, suppresses deep convection, and preserves heat and salt in the deep GoM during the wintertime.