Frontal‐Driven Water‐Mass Transformation in a Western Boundary Current: Evidence From the Yucatan Current
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We report the recurrent formation of waters with thermohaline properties similar to Gulf Common Water (GCW) in the western Yucatan Channel, absent upstream in the Caribbean. Mooring observations and a partial submesoscale‐resolving model show that these Yucatan GCW forms locally when the Yucatan Current separates from the slope, intensifying a frontal zone with isopycnal uplift, cyclonic vorticity, and sharp lateral gradients, signatures of submesoscale activity. These conditions favor interleaving and mixing among Caribbean inflow waters within a vertically compressed isopycnal layer. Lagrangian backtracking confirms their local origin, while forward tracking reveals export within cyclonic frontal eddies along the Loop Current periphery. Our findings uncover a previously unrecognized pathway of water‐mass transformation in the Yucatan Channel and highlight its potential implications for Loop Current variability.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2025gl119064
Institutions: Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre d'Études Spatiales de la Biosphère, Laboratoire d’Études en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université de Toulouse, Florida State University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, University of Iceland, Institute of Earth Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Awards: G4926326046, G8584639435
OpenAlex ID: W7134174615