Scientia Marina (Dec 2006)

Seasonal hydrodynamical features on the continental shelf of Colima (west coast of Mexico)

  • José Salas,
  • Damià Gomis,
  • Aramis Olivos-Ortiz,
  • Geraldine Garcia-Uribe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2006.70n4719
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 70, no. 4
pp. 719 – 726

Abstract

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Four high-resolution hydrographic surveys were carried out in 2002 on the continental shelf of Colima, Pacific coast of Mexico. The data collected revealed the presence of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddy-like features covering the whole extension of the shelf, which is a rather different pattern from the along-shore general circulation described in previous works. Despite the apparent complexity of the circulation features, the overall shelf-slope exchange pattern is similar in autumn and winter and the opposite in spring. In summer the exchanges also have a similar distribution to autumn and winter, but they are restricted to the upper layers. This suggests that the observed circulation features could result from the interaction between the large-scale seasonal circulation and some kind of local forcing.

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