The existing observations and model simulations indicate that mesoscale eddies and the Eastern Boundary Current (EBC) have a significant role in the complex circulation of the Red Sea. However, a full understanding of the processes that contribute to the physics and biological responses of the central Red Sea (CRS) has been limited due to the lack of sustained in-situ observations. In this dissertation study, in-situ observations extending over a thirty-three month period from spring 2013 through winter 2015 include an intensive ship-based and glider monitoring program to understand the key dynamic features of the CRS circulation. Nine glider missions and five ship-based surveys provide concrete resolution of both spatial and temporal variability in the CRS. The quasicontinuous glider observations resolve the influence of distinct water masses with a different origin that is present in the study area. Our results show that mesoscale eddies and the an intrusion of Gulf of Aden water governs the physical and biochemical characteristics of the CRS during the winter to summer transition period in 2013. During this period, an anticyclonic eddy appears to redirect the northward flow along the eastern boundary. Ship-based observations in fall 2013 indicate that the EBC can periodically transport patches of less salty and warmer water containing higher chlorophyll concentrations from south into the CRS. During spring 2014, ship observations show the presence of a cyclonic/anticyclonic eddy pair. The cyclonic eddy contribute an upward nutrient flux, resulting in an increase integrated chlorophyll concentration within the eddy. Higher chlorophyll and CDOM concentrations and lower N:P ratios characterized the inflow of lower salinity Gulf of Aden water from the south. To understand better how the mesoscale eddy activity, stratification, and the EBC modulate the nutrient availability and planktonic food web architecture in Red Sea two addition hydrographic surveys with plankton sampling were conducted in fall 2014 and spring 2015. The seasonal availability of Gulf of Aden water, stratification and eddies exerted a demonstrable effect on the plankton community by modulating the availability and utilization of allochthonous vs. autochthonous macronutrients by phytoplankton. Strong stratification, higher temperatures and depletion of nutrients by phytoplankton, subjected the plankton community to an overall nitrogen and phosphorus deficit in fall. To evaluate the role of the winter mixing, mesoscale eddies, and EBC within CRS during the winter to spring period, a sustained glider study (~91 days) was initiated from December 2014 to March 2015. Glider observations show the seasonal contrasts and transitions from strong summer stratification to winter mixing, with a corresponding transition from a well defined deep chlorophyll maximum to phytoplankton population intrusions of lower salinity water from the Gulf of Aden contributed to both the physical and biochemical variability within the region. Both GASW and GAIW can be entrained and diverted across the basin by larger eddies. Eddies play a role in the mixing between warmer, fresher water from the Gulf of Aden, and cooler, saltier water from the northern Red Sea.

The upwelling and cross-shelf transport dynamics along the Pacific Eastern Boundary is explored using a high resolution ocean model for the last 60 years. Three ocean circulations have been modeled. From North to South, we investigate the dynamics of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), the California Current System (CCS) and the Humboldt Current System (HCS, also known as the Peru-Chile Current System). The statistics of coastal waters transport are computed using a model passive tracer, which is continuously released at the coast. By looking at the passive tracer concentration distribution, we find that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation modulates the coastal variability of the GOA, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation controls the upwelling of the CCS, while the El-Niño Southern Oscillation affects the upwelling of Peru and Chile mainly through coastally trapped Kelvin waves. Results also emphasize the key role of the mesoscale eddies in the offshore transport of coastal waters masses. The passive tracer experiments, performed in this study in the GOA, CCS, and HCS, therefore could provide a dynamical framework to understand the dynamics of the upwelling/downwelling and offshore transport of nutrient rich coastal water and to interpret how it responds to atmospheric forcing. This also could reinforce our interpretation (and therefore predictions) in the changes in vertical and offshore advection of other important biogeochemical quantities, essential in understanding ecosystem variability.

Current meter records from a long term mooring site on the continental slope off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada are used to investigate the scales of variability of the subsurface California Undercurrent and its relation to possible driving mechanisms. Observed along the west coast of North America from Baja California to Vancouver Island, the California Undercurrent is part of the California Current System, a typical basin-scale eastern boundary circulation system. Of the four instruments at nominal depths of 35, 100, 175, and 400 m, the upper two show seasonally reversing flow, while the 175 m instrument registers a year-round poleward flow. The deepest current meter, located approximately 100 m above the bottom, reflects the influence of a nearby submarine canyon. The flow at 100 and 175 m depths, as well as the water properties sampled in the region with CTD casts, are characteristic of the temporal and spatial variability of the California Undercurrent over the continental slope off central and southern Vancouver Island. The correlation of the 175 m flow with local atmospheric forcing (wind stress) in the low-frequency band (periods of months) is higher than with ocean-wide climatic indices, suggesting that regional processes play a key role in the forcing of the subsurface flow.

Current meter records from a long term mooring site on the continental slope off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada are used to investigate the scales of variability of the subsurface California Undercurrent and its relation to possible driving mechanisms. Observed along the west coast of North America from Baja California to Vancouver Island, the California Undercurrent is part of the California Current System, a typical basin-scale eastern boundary circulation system. Of the four instruments at nominal depths of 35, 100, 175, and 400 m, the upper two show seasonally reversing flow, while the 175 m instrument registers a year-round poleward flow. The deepest current meter, located approximately 100 m above the bottom, reflects the influence of a nearby submarine canyon. The flow at 100 and 175 m depths, as well as the water properties sampled in the region with CTD casts, are characteristic of the temporal and spatial variability of the California Undercurrent over the continental slope off central and southern Vancouver Island. The correlation of the 175 m flow with local atmospheric forcing (wind stress) in the low-frequency band (periods of months) is higher than with ocean-wide climatic indices, suggesting that regional processes play a key role in the forcing of the subsurface flow.

This study investigates the upper ocean circulation along the west Australian coast, based on recent observations (WOCE ICM6, 1994/96) and numerical output from the 1/6 degree Parallel Ocean Program model (POP11B 1993/97). Particularly, we identify the source regions of the Leeuwin Current, quantify its mean and seasonal variability in terms of volume, heat and salt transports, and examine its heat balance (cooling mechanism). This also leads to further understanding of the regional circulation associated with the Leeuwin Undercurrent, the Eastern Gyral Current and the southeast Indian Subtropical Gyre. The tropical and subtropical sources of the Leeuwin Current are understood from an online numerical particle tracking. Some of the new findings are the Tropical Indian Ocean source of the Leeuwin Current (in addition to the Indonesian Throughflow/Pacific); the Eastern Gyral Current as a recirculation of the South Equatorial Current; the subtropical source of the Leeuwin Current fed by relatively narrow subsurface-intensified eastward jets in the Subtropical Gyre, which are also a major source for the Subtropical Water (salinity maximum) as observed in the Leeuwin Undercurrent along the ICM6 section at 22 degrees S. The ICM6 current meter array reveals a rich vertical current structure near North West Cape (22 degrees S). The coastal part of the Leeuwin Current has dominant synoptic variability and occasionally contains large spikes in its transport time series arising from the passage of tropical cyclones. On the mean, it is weaker and shallower compared to further downstream, and it only transports Tropical Water, of a variable content. The Leeuwin Undercurrent carries Subtropical Water, South Indian Central Water and Antarctic Intermediate Water equatorward between 150/250 to 500/750 m. There is a poleward flow just below the undercurrent which advects a mixed Intermediate Water, partially associated with outflows from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Narrow bottom-intensified currents are also observed. The 5-year mean model Leeuwin Current is a year-round poleward flow between 22 degrees S and 34 degrees S. It progressively deepens, from 150 to 300 m depth. Latitudinal variations in its volume transport are a response to lateral inflows/outflows. It has double the transport at 34 degrees S (-2.2 Sv) compared to at 22 degrees S (-1.2 Sv). These model estimates, however, may underestimate the transport of the Leeuwin Current by 50%. Along its path, the current becomes cooler (6 degrees C), saltier (0.6 psu) and denser (2 kg m -3). At seasonal scales, a stronger poleward flow in May-June advects the warmest and freshest waters along the west Australian coast. This advection is apparently spun up by the arrival of a poleward Kelvin wave in April, and reinforced by a minimum in the equatorward wind stress during July. In the model heat balance, the Leeuwin Current is significantly cooled by the eddy heat flux divergence (4 degrees C out of 6 degrees C), associated with mechanisms operating at submonthly time scales. However, exactly which mechanisms it is not yet clear. Air-sea fluxes only account for ~30% of the cooling and seasonal rectification is negligible. The eddy heat divergence, originating over a narrow region along the outer edge of the Leeuwin Current, is responsible for a considerable warming of a vast area of the adjacent ocean interior, which is then associated with strong heat losses to the atmosphere. The model westward eddy heat flux estimates are considerably larger than those associated with long lived warm core eddies detaching from the Leeuwin Current and moving offshore. This suggests that these mesoscale features are not the main mechanism responsible for the cooling of the Leeuwin Current. We suspect instead that short lived warm core eddies might play an important role.