loading page

On the Seasonal variability in the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
  • +8
  • M. Dolores Pérez-Hernández,
  • Alonso Hernández-Guerra,
  • Luis C Cana-Cascallar,
  • Verónica Cainzos,
  • Alberto González-Santana,
  • Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez Guerra,
  • Antonio Martinez-Marrero,
  • Ángela Mosquera-Giménez,
  • Carmen Presas-Navarro,
  • Daniel Santana-Toscano,
  • Pedro Vélez-Belchí
M. Dolores Pérez-Hernández
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Alonso Hernández-Guerra
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canari
Author Profile
Luis C Cana-Cascallar
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Author Profile
Verónica Cainzos
Unidad Océano y Clima, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Unidad Asociada ULPGC-CSIC
Author Profile
Alberto González-Santana
Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Author Profile
Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez Guerra
Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Author Profile
Antonio Martinez-Marrero
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC)
Author Profile
Ángela Mosquera-Giménez
Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Author Profile
Carmen Presas-Navarro
Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Author Profile
Daniel Santana-Toscano
Unidad Océano y Clima, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Unidad Asociada ULPGC-CSIC
Author Profile
Pedro Vélez-Belchí
Instituto Español de Oceanografía
Author Profile

Abstract

For the first time in 2015, four dedicated hydrographic cruises – one in each season – took place around the Canary Islands to determinate the seasonality of the flows at the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. The Canary Current (CC) is the eastern boundary current of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre and links the Azores Current with the North Equatorial Current. The CC shows a seasonal behavior in its path and strength, flowing on its easternmost position in winter (3.4±0.3 Sv), through the Canary Islands in spring (2.1±0.7 Sv) and summer (2.0±0.6 Sv) and on its westernmost position in fall (3.2±0.4 Sv). At the Lanzarote Passage (LP), the dominant flow is southward except in fall, where a northward transport is observed at surface (1.1±0.3 Sv) and intermediate (1.3±0.2 Sv) layers. A historical composite observational seasonal cycle is built from all the available estimations on the area and fits the 2015 seasonal cycle. The LP seasonal cycle and seasonal amplitude match the seasonal cycle of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) measured by the RAPID-MOCHA data array.