Abstract
TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS‐2 satellite altimeter observations and the 1/16° Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Layered Ocean Model (NLOM) show the existence of anticyclonic eddies in the Cabo Corrientes – María Islands region off the Mexican West Coast. Analysis of the results demonstrates that: (1) The Cabo Corrientes ‐ María Islands region is characterized by mean poleward coastal currents, driven by local wind forcing. (2) The local currents are intensified by the arrival of baroclinic downwelling coastally trapped waves (CTWs), generated in the equatorial Pacific. (3) Anticyclonic eddies are generated as the intensified local currents pass cape‐like features in the coastline or shelf‐break geometry. (4) From 1979 to 2001 the CTWs generated an average of 2.35 (2.5) Cabo Corrientes (María Islands) anticyclonic eddies per year. (5) The formation of eddies varies interannually, increasing (decreasing) during El Niño (La Niña) years. Comparison of a variety of numerical simulations, which include different dynamics and/or different wind forcing and/or different topographic effects, suggests that bottom topography, local wind, and baroclinic instabilities are not essential for the eddy generation. It is (a) the capes at Cabo Corrientes and the María Islands and (b) the strong transient events associated with the CTWs that are essential to the formation of these newly recognized eddies.
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