Current variability by wave propagation in Todos Santos Bay, Baja California, Mexico

Efrain Mateos,Silvio Guido Marinone

doi:10.7773/cm.v43i3.2775

Efrain Mateos, Silvio Guido Marinone

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7773/cm.v43i3.2775

Copy DOI

Abstract

The temperature, velocity, and sea level fields for a summer climatological month (August) were analyzed using tridimensional and baroclinic model outputs in Todos Santos Bay (TSB), Baja California, Mexico. The numerical model was forced with wind (nonstationary), heat flux, and California Current System climatology on the open boundary. The 3- to 5-day current variability is related to a baroclinic wave traveling towards the northwest of the bay. Wave travel periodicity was due to the release of accumulated water from the Ensenada–Punta Banda Estuary (E–PBE) region. Local wind stress causes southeastward water flow and, given the TSB geometry, water accumulates in the E–PBE region. Weakening wind stress was the main cause of water release. In addition, complex empirical orthogonal function analysis found that outer TSB disturbances cause sea level variability.

Highlights

Todos Santos Bay (TSB) is a small bay located 100 km south of the United States–Mexico border (Fig. 1)
This current pattern is consistent with the subtidal currents obtained from 2 high-frequency radars (Flores-Vidal et al 2015)
The mean subtidal current field showed that observed magnitudes were lower than 5 cm·s–1, which is consistent with the model

Summary

Introduction

Todos Santos Bay (TSB) is a small bay located 100 km south of the United States–Mexico border (Fig. 1). This bay has 2 mouths that connect it with the Pacific Ocean. The northeastern mouth, between Todos Santos Island (TSI) and San Miguel, is approximately 10 km wide, whereas the southwestern mouth measures ~5 km. Previous studies suggest that the general circulation in TSB is primarily due to the California Current System, wind stress, and tidal forcing (Gavidia 1988, Argote-Espinoza et al 1991, Mateos et al 2009, Flores-Vidal et al 2015). This study does not include tidal forcing

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion