A loop current‐induced jet along the edge of the West Florida Shelf

Abstract

The pressure imposed upon the West Florida Shelf by the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current is found to give rise to a southward flowing jet along the shelf edge. The pressure‐induced jet is simulated by a general circulation model of the Gulf. However, the physics causing formation of the jet are well represented by a simple continental shelf model incorporating an idealized geometry for the West Florida Shelf. The pressure response over the shelf, in an analogy to conductive heat transfer in a rod, is limited by the “insulating” effect of the steep topography of the West Florida Escarpment, which hinders the onshore spreading of the pressure influence. The shelf‐edge jet is apparent in the trajectories of satellite‐tracked surface drifters deployed from February 1996 through March 1997. Evidence for the requisite pressure distribution over the escarpment is provided by measurements of sea level from the satellite altimeter aboard the TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite.