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LT Frank Schenk, USN

LT James Buchanan, USN

The CCS is not the quiescent, stable system of currents with a well-defined, unchanging structure. Rather, the flow fluctuates greatly in both time and space. There exist mesoscale meanders, eddies, filaments and jet-like surface currents, which are superimposed on the large-scale flow. The combination of these features has led to a new conceptualization of the CCS as a system of currents with filamented jets and mesoscale eddies modifying the mean flow.

The dynamical processes responsible for the generation and evolution of these intense and complex meander, eddy, and filament structures in the CCS have yet to be fully identified. A possible generation mechanism arises from the baroclinic and/or barotropic instability of the mean coastal CCS. Another generation mechanism for the observed features is wind forcing, which may be the most important mechanism for the generation of the currents as well as for the intense and complex meander, eddy, jet, and filament structures in the CCS. Coastal irregularities are another important mechanism for the generation of these mesoscale features and "anchor" upwelling and filaments as well as enhance growth of meanders and eddies.

Batteen, M.L., 1997: "Wind-forced modeling studies of currents, meanders, and eddies in the California Current System." J. Phys. Res., Vol. 102, 985-1010.

Batteen, M.L. and P.W. Vance, 1998: "Modeling studies of the effects of wind forcing and thermohaline gradients on the California Current System." Deep Sea Res. II, Vol. 45, 1507-1556.
 

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