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The physical structure of an upwelling filament off the North-west African coast during august 1993
Abstract
Recent work in the Canary Current upwelling system highlights the role of previously uninvestigated filament structures. A filament located near 27°N in summer 1993 extended 150 km offshore with a width of ~20 km
and surface temperature anomaly up to 2°C. The cool temperature signal was restricted to a shallow surface layer, and the filament was entrained around a large cyclonic eddy. Offshore transport in the filament, in excess of 1 Sv, may be a major influence in dispersal of material originating in the region of active coastal upwelling. The location of the filament studied appears repeatable from year to year, suggestive of a strong relation with the topographically trapped eddy, which was situated downstream of a lateral ridge between the
Canary Islands and the African coast.
and surface temperature anomaly up to 2°C. The cool temperature signal was restricted to a shallow surface layer, and the filament was entrained around a large cyclonic eddy. Offshore transport in the filament, in excess of 1 Sv, may be a major influence in dispersal of material originating in the region of active coastal upwelling. The location of the filament studied appears repeatable from year to year, suggestive of a strong relation with the topographically trapped eddy, which was situated downstream of a lateral ridge between the
Canary Islands and the African coast.
