TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) sea surface height (SSH) measurements along tracks 91 and 15 crossing the West Florida Shelf (WFS) are used to estimate seasonal across-shelf SSH gradients. These gradients and the knowledge that geostrophic flow approximately follows the isobaths enables an estimation of the seasonal along-isobath geostrophic flows. The seasonal geostrophic along-isobath flows are found to be highly correlated with the seasonal along-shore wind stress. Southeastward directed along-isobath flows are predicted in December, January, February, and March. Northwestward directed along-isobath flows are predicted in June, August, and September. The along-isobath geostrophic component of the flow is small in the remaining months. Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, usually blooms on the south/central WFS in the summer and fall months. It is likely that the northwestward along-isobath flow in June, August, and September transports the red tide blooms northward to the Big Bend shelf region during these months. K. brevis blooms in 2005 and 2006 are used as a case study to examine the northward transport mechanism. Above average northwestward along-shore wind stress caused by hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico most likely resulted in the northward transport of K. brevis in 2005 while below average along-shore wind stress in 2006 suggests why a K. brevis bloom on the central WFS was not observed farther north. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Oceanography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2007. / February 2, 2007. / Satellite Oceanography, Harmful Algal Blooms, Red Tide, TOPEX/Poseidon, West Florida Shelf, Geostrophic Flow / Includes bibliographical references. / Allan J. Clarke, Professor Directing Thesis; Richard Iverson, Outside Committee Member; Doron Nof, Committee Member; William K. Dewar, Committee Member; Michael J. Sullivan, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182372 |
| Contributors | Carlson, Daniel F. (authoraut), Clarke, Allan J. (professor directing thesis), Iverson, Richard (outside committee member), Nof, Doron (committee member), Dewar, William K. (committee member), Sullivan, Michael J. (committee member), Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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