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Flushing of the continental shelf south of Cape Hatteras by the Gulf Stream
Author(s) -
Blanton Jackson O.,
Pietrafesa Leonard J.
Publication year - 1978
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 - 10.1029/gl005i006p00495
Subject(s) - submarine pipeline , oceanography , cape , continental shelf , geology , bay , entrainment (biomusicology) , gulf stream , flushing , wind stress , geography , medicine , philosophy , archaeology , endocrinology , rhythm , aesthetics
Onslow Bay, an embayment south of Cape Hatteras in the South Atlantic Bight, responds to discrete southwestward and northeastward wind stress events. Occasionally, dramatic onshore‐offshore flow cycles occur that appear triggered by a large‐scale disturbance probably originating in the Gulf Stream. Winds and offshore disturbances drive a well‐defined circulation pattern from which it is estimated that Onslow Bay is flushed every 2 months. This agrees quite well with a freshwater removal rate of about 2.7 months and a Gulf Stream entrainment removal rate of 3 months.