Recent Changes in Shelfbreak Exchange Processes in the Middle Atlantic Bight

Recent Changes in Shelfbreak Exchange Processes in the Middle Atlantic Bight Recent Changes in Shelfbreak Exchange Processes in the Middle Atlantic Bight Glen Gawarkiewicz Physical Oceanography Department Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ECCWO June 8, 2018 Co-Authors on recent paper in Oceanography Magazine Special Issue on Ocean Observatories Initiative Robert Todd, Gordon Zhang, Jacob Partid. [...] Massachusetts-Dartmouth Paula Fratantoni- Northeast Fisheries Science Center Anna Malek Mercer- Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation Margaret Dent- Colby College Outline Overview of regional circulation and shelfbreak exchange processes in the Middle Atlantic Bight New tools- the Ocean Observatory Initiative Pioneer Array and the CFRF/WHOI Shelf Research Fleet How are shelfbreak exchange. [...] anomaly >5°C Salinity anomaly >1.5 PSU Ecosystem Impacts- January 2017 Warm water species caught near Block Island, RI (Gulf Stream flounder) Juvenile black sea bass caught over continental shelf first time in winter Spatial shifts in catch of Jonah crab Large salinity anomaly detected north of Cape Hatteras in late April- likely advected to Cape Hatteras in ~2-3 months Massive ring intrus. [...] 2014 Salinity Temperature Shelfbreak front >70 km shoreward of shelfbreak Climatology 1981-2010 No Cold Pool (temperature minimum Cold Pool 13°C, Cold Pool < 10°C) 34.0 PSU Isohalines tilt in wrong direction September 2014 Salinity anomalies are 5 standard deviations from mean!!! Conclusive evidence that nature of shelfbreak exchange has changed in recent years From NMFS Ecosystem Monitoring Cruis. [...] Fratantoni (NEFSC) Conclusions Significant ring intrusion events have been detected by Pioneer Array and Shelf Research Fleet across continental shelf south of New England in January 2017 and September 2014 Warm salty ring water has penetrated significantly greater distances onshore than in previous observations of ring interaction with the continental shelf in 1980s and 1990s Can predictive.