On the three-dimensional numerical modeling of the deep circulation around Ángel de la Guarda Island in the Gulf of California

Abstract

A three-dimensional nonlinear baroclinic model is used to model the circulation in the Ballenas Channel, Gulf of California, México, which was inferred from current meter observations over three sills that surround the area. The suggested circulation consists of deep inflow that follows two paths: the first one is a direct spill of water through San Lorenzo sill into Ballenas Channel, the second one, a larger route that starts at San Esteban sill, then flows north of the island passing over Tiburón and Delfín basins, and then turns to the south reaching the North Ballenas Channel sill and then spills into Ballenas Channel. Following the latter result, a previous modeling effort to reproduce the circulation was partially obtained, the long path was not reproduced and it was believed that finer horizontal resolution was needed. In this work, the bathymetric resolution was increased by a factor of three and the full path of this deep circulation is now obtained and corroborated.