Deep Cyclonic Circulation in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Abstract The anticyclonic Loop Current dominates the upper-layer flow in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, with a weaker mean anticyclonic pattern in the western gulf. There are reasons, however, to suspect that the deep mean flow should actually be cyclonic. Topographic wave rectification and vortex stretching contribute to this cyclonic tendency, as will the supply of cold incoming deep water at the edges of the basin. The authors find that the deep mean flow is cyclonic both in the eastern and western gulf, with speeds on the order of 1–2 cm s−1 at 2000 m. Historical current-meter mooring data, as well as profiling autonomous Lagrangian circulation explorer (PALACE) floats (at 900 m), suggest that vertical geostrophic shear relative to 1000 m gives a surprisingly accurate result in the interior of the basin. The temperature around the edges of the basin at 2000 m is coldest near the Yucatan Channel, where Caribbean Sea water is colder by ∼0.1°C. The temperature increases steadily with distance in the counterclockwise direction from the Yucatan, consistent with a deep mean cyclonic boundary flow.