A long and gradual transition between the summer and winter
oceanic regimes was observed off Oregon during the autumn of 1980.
Hydrographic sections and a single current meter mooring between
August and December show the ocean possessed characteristics during
fall that have not been observed during other seasons: a slow ascension of
the poleward undercurrent and the appearance of a large bottom
boundary layer.
The decay of summer's southward surface flow was achieved by a
series of modest northward wind events during late summer as the effects
of southward winds were becoming diminished. The northward wind
events had progressively stronger influence on surface currents. The
barotropic current fluctuations that are a signature of the summer regime
continued during the transitional period. The weekly-to-monthly
averaged flow was barotropic during much of the transition.
Hydrographic sections and time series of alongshore current shear
and temperature show that the leveling of the frontal layer was achieved
gradually over a two month time scale.
The winter regime was established during eleven days of
continuous northward wind stress in early November. / Graduation date: 1987
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27962 |
| Date | 17 October 1986 |
| Creators | Reid, Brad |
| Contributors | Huyer, Adriana |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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