Export of middle Atlantic Bight Shelf waters near Cape Hatteras from two years of underwater glider observations

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 125(4), (2020): e2019JC016006, doi:10.1029/2019JC016006.Equatorward flow of Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) shelf waters meets poleward flowing South Atlantic Bight shelf waters over the continental shelf near Cape Hatteras, NC, leading to net export of shelf waters into the deep ocean. This export occurs in close proximity to the Gulf Stream, which separates from the continental margin near Cape Hatteras. Observations from sustained underwater glider surveys of the outer continental shelf and slope north of Cape Hatteras from spring 2017 to spring 2019 are used to examine the mean and variability of MAB shelf water export in the region. The 0.3 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) time‐mean export of MAB shelf water south of 37°N was dominated by discrete export events; 50% of export occurred during the 17% of the time during which transport was more than 1 standard deviation above the mean. These events typically occurred in late spring and summer of both years when equatorward flow into the region peaked. Export of MAB shelf water was correlated with equatorward flow into the region, which was itself correlated with the density gradient across the continental shelf break. Observations during specific time periods that capture extrema in MAB shelf water export are examined to highlight the variability in shelf‐deep ocean exchange scenarios in the Hatteras region. These include near‐surface export driven by hurricanes, subsurface export below the northern edge of the Gulf Stream, and a multi‐month near‐cessation of export.Patrick Deane at WHOI and the Instrument Development Group at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography were key to the success of the Spray glider operations. Mike Muglia, Trip Taylor, and Nick DeSimone at the East Carolina University Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) provided support for glider deployments and recoveries. WHOI Summer Student Fellow Devon Gaynes assisted with analysis related to 2017 hurricanes. Spray glider observations used here are available from http://spraydata.ucsd.edu and should be cited using the following DOIs: 10.21238/S8SPRAY2675 (Todd & Owens, 2016) and 10.21238/S8SPRAY0880 (Todd, 2020). Buoy winds are available from the National Data Buoy Center (https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov). SST imagery was obtained from the Mid‐Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) THREDDS server (http://tds.maracoos.org/thredds/ARCHIVE-SST.html). Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast System data are available online (https://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/). PEACH was funded by the National Science Foundation (OCE‐1558521). Colormaps are from Thyng et al. (2016).2020-09-1