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OCEANIC HEAT CONTENT OFF OREGON: ITS VARIATIONS AND THEIR CAUSES 1
Author(s) -
Pattullo June G.,
Burt Wayne V.,
Kulm Sally A.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1969.14.2.0279
Subject(s) - submarine pipeline , upwelling , advection , shore , environmental science , oceanography , seasonality , range (aeronautics) , climatology , nautical mile , geology , geography , physics , statistics , mathematics , materials science , composite material , thermodynamics
Heat content, surface to 100 m, was computed for oceanographic stations within 165 nautical miles (305 km) of the Oregon coast. Mean content, 1962 through 1965, was 100 kg cal cm −2 , with a root mean square deviation of 13 kg cal cm −2 . The principal fluctuation around the mean was seasonal; the seasonal range among monthly mean values was twice as large offshore, beyond 100 miles (185 km) from the coast (35 kg cal cm −2 ) as the range inshore, within 65 miles (120 km) of shore (15 kg cal cm −2 ). The cause of the seasonal variation offshore was local heating, but advection was important inshore. Observed ranges in heat storage inshore were only a third as large as expected from the computed local heating. The results are consistent with inshore currents from the south in winter and coastal upwelling associated with offshore transport of water and heat in summer. For data off Newport, the sum of squares was partitioned by a hierarchal scheme. This revealed that inshore the seasonal regime was not dominant; fluctuations of long and short periods and geographical variations were also appreciable. It is suggested that future sampling in the inshore region be more intensive, with smaller intervals in both distance and time. It is also apparent that long records (tens of years) are needed both inshore and offshore if we wish to describe the major fluctuations of heat content, since long‐period deviations from the average seasonal cycle are indicated.