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Lavelle & Cannon 2001
Lavelle, J.W. and Cannon, G.A. (2001). On subinertial oscillations trapped by the Juan de Fuca Ridge, northeast Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research 106: doi: 10.1029/2001JC000865. issn: 0148-0227.

Spectra of currents measured along the 2100 m deep Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific have prominent tidal, inertial, and weather-band (3--7 day period) spectral peaks. The weather-band peak, in particular, has a number of interesting features. It is strongest in close lateral proximity to the ridge and strongest near ridge depth; intensification near the ridge is characteristic of trapped motion. Spectral peak intensities vary seasonally, with largest amplitudes occurring in autumn and winter; seasonal variation suggests that surface weather is forcing flow at depth. Together, trapping and seasonality indicate opportunistic amplification of oscillatory motion at the ridge. At all frequencies, forcing, topography, and stratification together shape current and hydrographic distributions near the ridge. Effects of those interactions for subinertial motion are quantified here using a primitive equation numerical model. Forcing period (1--10 days) and friction are the principal dependencies examined. Results show that flow over the Juan de Fuca Ridge can be amplified by factors of 3--4 for diurnal and up to a factor of 7 for weather-band frequencies. Amplification is ridge trapped, with effects extending many hundreds of meters upward and extending 5--10 km laterally for 5-day-period flow; the strength and area of amplification increase with increasing period over the 1- to 10-day-period band. Oscillatory weather-band flow leads to vertical velocities on the order of 0.3 cm s-1 on ridge flanks, which in turn cause periodic temperature (T) and salinity (S) variations with amplitudes of as much as 0.05 ¿C and 0.01 practical salinity units, respectively. The vertical motion and consequent vertical displacement (>100 m) lead to isotherms that plunge below the crest alternately each side of the ridge, a distribution observed in conductivity-temperature-depth transect data. Near the ridge crest, cross-ridge baroclinic pressure gradients caused by cyclically plunging isopycnals are in near-geostrophic balance with the Coriolis force associated with along-ridge flow. Along-ridge current amplification is therefore closely tied to isopycnal movement up and down ridge flanks. Since weather-band oscillations lead to much larger cross-ridge baroclinic pressure gradients than do diurnal motions of the same amplitude, weather-band forcing causes greater along-ridge current amplification. Results vary strongly with forcing period and direction of forcing with respect to the ridge but depend only moderately on friction and turbulent mixing coefficients. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union

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Abstract

Keywords
Oceanography, General, Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles, Oceanography, General, Numerical modeling, Oceanography, Physical, Currents, Information Related to Geographic Region, Pacific Ocean
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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