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The 2014–2015 warming anomaly in the Southern California Current System observed by underwater gliders
Author(s) -
Zaba Katherine D.,
Rudnick Daniel L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl067550
Subject(s) - thermocline , oceanography , glider , stratification (seeds) , upwelling , geology , anomaly (physics) , sea surface temperature , current (fluid) , climatology , environmental science , forcing (mathematics) , physics , condensed matter physics , seed dormancy , botany , germination , dormancy , marine engineering , engineering , biology
Large‐scale patterns of positive temperature anomalies persisted throughout the surface waters of the North Pacific Ocean during 2014–2015. In the Southern California Current System, measurements by our sustained network of underwater gliders reveal the coastal effects of the recent warming. Regional upper ocean temperature anomalies were greatest since the initiation of the glider network in 2006. Additional observed physical anomalies included a depressed thermocline, high stratification, and freshening; induced biological consequences included changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll fluorescence. Contemporaneous surface heat flux and wind strength perturbations suggest that local anomalous atmospheric forcing caused the unusual oceanic conditions.