Poleward Flows Along Eastern Ocean Boundaries

Abstract

In this paper differences and anomalies in west coast seasonal flow structures have been highlighted. In particular, it was emphasized that flow off Washington has significant differences from that of Oregon; namely, during summer, flow at mid-shelf is more poleward off Washington, and during winter, flow on the inner-shelf is more equatorward off Washington than off Oregon. The former result may be related to the poleward decrease in the longshelf wind stress; the latter result may be related to the presence of the Columbia River plume. Off southern California the near-surface flow over the shelf is more persistently equatorward than that off Washington . Conversely, the flow over the slope in the upper 100 m of the water column is more persistently poleward than that off washington. Also, the undercurrent structure, that is, a subsurface maximum, is maintained at least from summer to early winter off southern California (no data are yet available from spring), but only during summer and early fall off washington. We note that the seasonal cycle of vertical shear in the two locations is similar, although a reversal in sign sometimes occurs off Washington. ACKNOWLEDGEMZNTS This work was supported by the Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG05-85ER60333t4 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE 86-01058{\#}1. 175 From: Adriana Huyer, College of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. On: Review and Commentary to paper POLEWARD FLOW NEAR TRE NORTRERH AND SOU'l'BERH BOONDARIES OF TRE U. S. WEST COAST, by Barbara Hickey.