Current variability and its relation to sea‐surface topography in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The circulation in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico exhibits considerable variability, which manifests itself in the form of changes in the intensity and location of the major currents. These changes in current intensity and location are coupled with changes in the distribution of the sea‐surface topography. Little is known of the temporal and spatial distribution of currents in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Recent direct measurements suggest a complicated current structure with large meanders and eddies; such a structure implies a complicated sea‐surface topography. An anticyclonic gyre, characterized by a rise in the sea‐surface topography, is frequently found in the western Caribbean Sea. The gyre is bounded on the south and west by intense currents. Sea‐surface slopes of 0.4m/200km have been observed across the southern limb of the gyre, the Cayman Current, and 0.5m/100km across the western limb, the Yucatan Current. There appears to be a seasonal cycle in the intensity of this gyre, which implies se...