Diagnosing transit times on the northwestern North Atlantic continental shelf

Rutherford, Krysten; Fennel, Katja

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1207-2018

Articles | Volume 14, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1207-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1207-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 5

Research article

|

12 Oct 2018

Research article |

| 12 Oct 2018

Diagnosing transit times on the northwestern North Atlantic continental shelf

Krysten Rutherford and Katja Fennel

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1207-2018-supplement

Video supplement

Animation of vertical mean Slp-S dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38268

Animation of vertical mean Slp-D dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38275

Animation of vertical mean LS dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38269

Animation of vertical mean GoM dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38277

Animation of vertical mean SS dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38270

Animation of vertical mean GB dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38271

Animation of vertical mean ENS dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38272

Animation of vertical mean GoSL dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38273

Animation of vertical mean SLE dye concentration K. Rutherford and K. Fennel https://doi.org/10.5446/38274

Short summary

Using a regional model of the northwestern North Atlantic shelves, we calculate transport timescales and pathways in order to understand the transport processes that underlie the rapid oxygen loss, air–sea CO² flux, and supply of plankton seed populations on the Scotian Shelf. Study results highlight the limited connectivity between the Scotian Shelf and adjacent slope waters; instead, the dominant southwestward currents bring Grand Banks and Gulf of St. Lawrence waters to the Scotian Shelf.