Abstract
Wintertime trends in mixed layer depth (MLD) were calculated in the Bay of Biscay over the period 1975–2010 using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) package. The reliability of the SODA database was confirmed correlating its results with those obtained from the experimental Argo database over the period 2003–2010. An iso-thermal layer depth (TLD) and an iso-pycnal layer depth (PLD) were defined using the threshold difference method with ΔT = 0.5°C and Δσθ = 0.125 kg/m3. Wintertime trends of the MLD were calculated using winter extended (December-March) anomalies and annual maxima. Trends calculated for the whole Bay of Biscay using both parameters (TLD and PLD) showed to be dependent on the area. Thus, MLD became deeper in the southeastern corner and shallower in the rest of the area. Air temperature was shown to play a key role in regulating the different spatial behavior of the MLD. Negative air temperature trends localized in the southeastern corner coincide with MLD deepening in this area, while, positive air temperature trends are associated to MLD shoaling in the rest of the bay. Additionally, the temperature trend calculated along the first 700 m of the water column is in good agreement with the different spatial behavior revealed for the MLD trend.
Highlights
Upper Ocean is characterized for a quasi-homogeneous layer where temperature, salinity and density scarcely vary with increasing depth [24]
The deepest layer affected by this turbulent mixing is called mixed layer depth (MLD), which marks the width of the upper ocean that interacts with the atmosphere
Argo data were extracted from the US Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (USGODAE) server, which is one of the two Argo Global Data Assembly Center (GDAC) that stored Argo float data
Summary
Upper Ocean is characterized for a quasi-homogeneous layer where temperature, salinity and density scarcely vary with increasing depth [24]. This homogeneity layer is caused by turbulent vertical mixing that is driven by heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere, as well as by wind stress. During spring the onset of surface heating produces a restratification of the upper ocean, giving as result shallower MLDs, especially during summer. These variations of the MLD, that reach hundreds of meters over the year, have important biological implications [13], [47]
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