Seasonality of the transitional region of the California Current System off Baja California

Abstract

Hydrographic data collected over the period 1997-2013 are analyzed to investigate the seasonality of hydrographic features and associated geostrophic flows off the Baja California peninsula. The upper ocean in the region was found to be homogeneous in winter and spring but subdivided into two regions in the summer and autumn. In the first case, the system typically shows relatively low-temperature and salinity waters, which give it a subarctic character. In the second, only the region north of Punta Eugenia (28°N) maintains subarctic characteristics, while the southern region receives an inflow of tropical and subtropical waters that results from the weakening of northwesterly winds, which allows the poleward advection of surface waters. Also during this period, a positive wind stress curl promotes the zonal advection of North Pacific's eastern edge waters into the coast and to the north as a surface coastal flow. Average seasonal patterns of geostrophic flow at 200 dbar revealed that the differentiation into provinces is also evident at that depth, with two clearly defined cyclonic structures in summer and autumn, both separated at the latitude of Punta Eugenia. The analyses conducted also showed a clear continuity of the California undercurrent along the shelf break, with more diffuse currents in the winter. Poleward flows were observed throughout the water column, especially in summer and autumn, although the origin of the surface flow does not necessarily involve a surfacing of the California Undercurrent.