The intrusion of Gulf Stream water across the continental shelf due to topographically-induced upwelling

Abstract

Summer bottom temperatures along the continental shelf between Cape Hatteras and Cape Canaveral are abnormally low in regions where isobaths diverge. The regions are north of capes and shoals, which force the flow of shelf water to change vorticity and induce upwelling. Gulf Stream Water intrudes across the bottom during summer to replace the upwelled water, and accounts for the colder and more stratified water over the northern Florida and the North Carolina shelves.