Modification of a Kenai eddy along the Alaskan Stream

Abstract

A Kenai eddy was studied through analyses of satellite altimeter data and hydrographic data from shipboard and Argo float observations. This eddy formed in December 2006 south of the Kenai Peninsula and propagated southwestward along the Alaskan Stream. The eddy held horizontally uniform warm core water in January 2007. In late winter 2007, this core water was cooled from the top and a subsurface temperature maximum was formed around 26.5. Two years later in summer 2009, warm and low-dissolved-oxygen (low-DO) water characterized by a temperature maximum around 26.5 was observed again in the eddy core and was likely the remnant of original core water. At the same time, cold and high-DO water intrusions occurred in the eddy core, suggesting that strong modification of core water was ongoing. After summer 2009, the core water was fully changed through interaction with another eddy. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.