Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Near-Surface Transport Pathways in the North Atlantic Ocean: Looking for Throughput from the Subtropical to the Subpolar Gyre

Irina I. Rypina Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

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Lawrence J. Pratt Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

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M. Susan Lozier Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

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Print Publication:
01 May 2011
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JPO4498.1
Page(s):
911–925
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Abstract

Motivated by discrepancies between Eulerian transport estimates and the behavior of Lagrangian surface drifters, near-surface transport pathways and processes in the North Atlantic are studied using a combination of data, altimetric surface heights, statistical analysis of trajectories, and dynamical systems techniques. Particular attention is paid to the issue of the subtropical-to-subpolar intergyre fluid exchange. The velocity field used in this study is composed of a steady drifter-derived background flow, upon which a time-dependent altimeter-based perturbation is superimposed. This analysis suggests that most of the fluid entering the subpolar gyre from the subtropical gyre within two years comes from a narrow region lying inshore of the Gulf Stream core, whereas fluid on the offshore side of the Gulf Stream is largely prevented from doing so by the Gulf Stream core, which acts as a strong transport barrier, in agreement with past studies. The transport barrier near the Gulf Stream core is robust and persistent from 1992 until 2008. The qualitative behavior is found to be largely independent of the Ekman drift.

Corresponding author address: Irina I. Rypina, Physical Oceanography Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543. E-mail: irypina@whoi.edu

Abstract

Motivated by discrepancies between Eulerian transport estimates and the behavior of Lagrangian surface drifters, near-surface transport pathways and processes in the North Atlantic are studied using a combination of data, altimetric surface heights, statistical analysis of trajectories, and dynamical systems techniques. Particular attention is paid to the issue of the subtropical-to-subpolar intergyre fluid exchange. The velocity field used in this study is composed of a steady drifter-derived background flow, upon which a time-dependent altimeter-based perturbation is superimposed. This analysis suggests that most of the fluid entering the subpolar gyre from the subtropical gyre within two years comes from a narrow region lying inshore of the Gulf Stream core, whereas fluid on the offshore side of the Gulf Stream is largely prevented from doing so by the Gulf Stream core, which acts as a strong transport barrier, in agreement with past studies. The transport barrier near the Gulf Stream core is robust and persistent from 1992 until 2008. The qualitative behavior is found to be largely independent of the Ekman drift.

Corresponding author address: Irina I. Rypina, Physical Oceanography Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543. E-mail: irypina@whoi.edu
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