The influence of the Galápagos Islands on tropical temperatures, currents and the generation of tropical instability waves

Abstract

The Galápagos Islands provide a topographic barrier for the Southern Equatorial Current (SEC) and the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). An island wake effect can be diagnosed from the difference of an ocean general circulation model simulation which includes the Galápagos Islands and one which ignores their presence. Cold thermocline water upwells on the western side of the islands, and only during boreal winter season these cold waters can linger around the Islands at a depth of about 80 m and affect the far eastern equatorial Pacific surface waters. This effect is partly offset by the westward transport of cold surface waters by the SEC which creates a wake on the western side of the Islands. It is furthermore shown that changes in horizontal current shear, induced by the presence of the Galápagos Islands modify the generation of tropical instability waves and lead to a basin scale SST anomaly pattern.