Strong Mid-Depth Currents and a Deep Cyclonic Gyre in the Gulf of Mexico

OCS Study MMS 2004-040

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Strong Mid-Depth Currents and a Deep Cyclonic Gyre in the Gulf of Mexico.

This report explores the possibility that the mean deep flow (~2,000 m) around the edges of the Gulf of Mexico circulates in a cyclonic, or counter-clockwise, direction.  The existence of such flow was proposed on theoretical grounds but had not been previously documented.  Clear, reliable observations of such flow are discussed.  Analysis of six different year-long, current-meter moorings at various locations and in different years shows a deep flow that is highly variable but clearly cyclonic in the mean.  A three-year-long deep float experiment at 900 m also indicates weak cyclonic flow near the edges of the basin.  No observations have been found that contradict these conclusions.  On the basis of these results, and from numerical circulation modeling using the Princeton ocean model, the authors expect to find deep mean currents flowing to the east along the northern slopes off Mexico.  Such flow has not yet been observed.

This report is available only in compact disc format.  The discs are available from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2004-040.  The report may be ordered through the Minerals Management Service’s on-line ordering system at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/WebStore/front.asp.  You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future.  Here are the addresses.  You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.