1965 Theses Doctoral

Quantitative study of the dynamics of the Caribbean Sea

Gordon, Arnold L.

This study is the second part of a two-part series concerned with the physical oceanography of the Caribbean Sea. The first part “Spreading and Mixing of the Water Types with an Oceanographic Atlas” was written by Dr. Georg Wüst while he was a Visiting Professor of Geology at Columbia University. Numerous references are made to that work and the plates included in the Atlas.

Part One, as it will be referred to, is a core study of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent area of the North Atlantic. The Core Method, or “Kernschicht” was developed by Wüst in 1936. Water types are traced to provide a better understanding of the circulation and spreading in the Caribbean. The data is shown by “...curved (or inclined) surfaces corresponding to the topography or contours of the so-called core layers (Kernschichten) of the different water types.” (Wüst, Part One, Chapter Two).

The present study treats the circulation in the Caribbean Sea more quantitatively by analysis of the mass distribution of the water, (Geostrophic Method). The factors which create the observed mass distribution are examined qualitatively. Eddy diffusion in the two main core layers are determined from the salinity field. The theoretical and practicality of the geostrophic method is dealt with critically in Chapter I.

The discussion of the hydrographic stations in the passageways of the Lesser Antilles and the direct current measurements taken by the R/V CONRAD during the summers of 1963 and 1964 will be prepared by R. Gerard. That discussion and the present study will form Part Two of the Caribbean Series.