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70-512: A related feature is an area of warm water with an " eddy " or "Loop Current ring" that separates from the Loop Current, somewhat randomly every 3 to 17 months. Swirling at 1.8 to 2 meters/second, these rings drift to the west at speeds of 2 to 5 kilometers/day and have a lifespan of up to a year before they bump into the coast of Texas or Mexico . These eddies are composed of warm Caribbean waters and possess physical properties that isolate

140-401: A bacterial relative of syphilis . According to study lead researcher Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, "It really looks as if this woman had a very hard time and an extremely unhappy end of her life. Obviously, this is speculative, but given the traumas and the pathological deformations on her skull, it appears a likely scenario that she may have been expelled from her group and was killed in the cave, or

210-628: A certain settlement and the response in Yucatec Mayan was "I don't understand", which sounded like yucatán to the Spaniards. There are many possibilities of what the natives could have actually said, among which " mathan cauyi athán ", " tectecán ", " ma'anaatik ka t'ann " and " ci u t'ann ". This origin story was first told by Hernán Cortés in his letters to Charles V . Later 16th century historians Motolinia and Francisco López de Gómara also repeat this version. In some versions

280-527: A diel vertical migration but without more evidence on the biomass of their prey within this zone, these conclusions cannot be made only using this circumstantial evidence. The biomass in the mesopelagic zone is still understudied leading to the biomass of fish within this layer to potentially be underestimated. A more accurate measurement on this biomass may serve to benefit the commercial fishing industry providing them with additional fishing grounds within this region. Moreover, further understanding this region in

350-463: A fluid dynamics experiment involving water and dye, where he adjusted the velocities of the fluids and observed the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, characterized by the formation of eddies and vortices. Turbulent flow is defined as the flow in which the system's inertial forces are dominant over the viscous forces. This phenomenon is described by Reynolds number , a unit-less number used to determine when turbulent flow will occur. Conceptually,

420-439: A larger mixed layer and deeper thermocline. Furthermore, models suggest that cyclones are more likely to reach a larger fraction of their maximum potential intensity over warm oceanic features where the 26 °C isotherm extends beyond 100 meters. An example of how deep warm water, including the Loop Current, can allow a hurricane to strengthen, if other conditions are also favorable, is Hurricane Camille , which made landfall on

490-483: A very small area to the right of the eye ). In 1980, Hurricane Allen strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane while moving over the Loop Current, but it weakened before its landfall in Texas . Hurricane Ivan rode the Loop Current twice in 2004. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita both greatly increased in strength when they passed over the warmer waters of the Loop Current. Hurricane Wilma of 2005

560-502: A woman approximately 30 years of age who lived at least 9,900 years ago. According to craniometric measurements, the skull is believed to conform to the mesocephalic pattern, like the other three skulls found in Tulum caves. Three different scars on the skull of the woman showed that she was hit with something hard and her skull bones were broken. Her skull also had crater-like deformations and tissue deformities that appeared to be caused by

630-428: Is a deviation from mean flow, but does not have the local closed streamlines of a vortex. The propensity of a fluid to swirl is used to promote good fuel/air mixing in internal combustion engines. In fluid mechanics and transport phenomena , an eddy is not a property of the fluid, but a violent swirling motion caused by the position and direction of turbulent flow. In 1883, scientist Osborne Reynolds conducted

700-585: Is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala . The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the Caribbean Sea to the east. The Yucatán Channel , between the northeastern corner of the peninsula and Cuba , connects the two bodies of water. The peninsula is approximately 181,000 km (70,000 sq mi) in area. It has low relief and

770-792: Is almost entirely composed of porous limestone . The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , the narrowest point in Mexico separating the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, from the Pacific Ocean. Some consider the isthmus to be the geographic boundary between Central America and the rest of North America , placing the peninsula in Central America. Politically, all of Mexico, including

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840-431: Is the heat exchange between the upper layer of ocean waters and the core of the storm. For this reason, a major focus of hurricane research has been sea surface temperature prior to a storm. However, recent studies have revealed that surface temperature is less important in hurricane deepening than the depth of the ocean mixed layer. In fact, a hurricane's sea level pressure has been shown to be more closely correlated with

910-586: Is the site of the Chicxulub crater impact, which was created 66 million years ago by an asteroid of about 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) in diameter at the end of the Cretaceous Period . In 2020, an underwater archaeological expedition led by Jerónimo Avilés excavated Chan Hol cave, near the Tulum archaeological site in the state of Quintana Roo on the peninsula, and revealed the skeleton of

980-406: Is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid is in a turbulent flow regime. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object. Fluid behind the obstacle flows into the void creating a swirl of fluid on each edge of the obstacle, followed by a short reverse flow of fluid behind the obstacle flowing upstream, toward

1050-413: Is vital in grasping an understanding of environmental systems. By understanding the transport of both particulate and dissolved solids in environmental flows, scientists and engineers will be able to efficiently formulate remediation strategies for pollution events. Eddy formations play a vital role in the fate and transport of solutes and particles in environmental flows such as in rivers, lakes, oceans, and

1120-553: The Kuroshio Current , and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, amongst others. Mesoscale ocean eddies are characterized by currents that flow in a roughly circular motion around the center of the eddy. The sense of rotation of these currents may either be cyclonic or anticyclonic (such as Haida Eddies ). Oceanic eddies are also usually made of water masses that are different from those outside

1190-768: The Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 1969. Camille formed in the deep warm waters of the Caribbean, which enabled it to rapidly intensify into a category 3 hurricane in one day. It rounded the western tip of Cuba, and its path took it directly over the Loop Current, all the way north towards the coast, during which time the rapid intensification continued. Camille became a Category 5 hurricane, with an intensity rarely seen, and extremely high winds that were maintained until landfall (190 mph (310 km/h) sustained winds were estimated to have occurred in

1260-553: The 26 °C isotherm depth (and oceanic heat content) than the sea surface temperature. Storms passing over the Loop Current or warm core eddies have access to more tepid water, and therefore the higher energy content of the heated molecules. Once Hurricane Rita left the Loop Current and passed over cooler water, it declined in strength, but the main factor in this weakening was an eyewall replacement cycle (ERC) occurring at that time. The ERC and other atmospheric factors are why Rita did not reintensify when subsequently passing over

1330-594: The Atlantic is also thought to be an ocean desert, which creates an interesting paradox due to it hosting a variety of large pelagic fish populations and apex predators . These mesoscale eddies have shown to be beneficial in further creating ecosystem-based management for food web models to better understand the utilization of these eddies by both the apex predators and their prey. Gaube et al. (2018), used “Smart” Position or Temperature Transmitting tags (SPOT) and Pop-Up Satellite Archival Transmitting tags (PSAT) to track

1400-452: The Gulf of Mexico, they convert the ocean's heat into storm energy. As this energy is removed from the seas, a wake of colder water can be detected along the hurricane's path. This is because heat is withdrawn from the ocean mixed layer in a number of ways. For instance, sensible and latent heat are lost directly to the tropical cyclone across the air-sea interface. Also, the horizontal divergence of wind-driven mixed layer currents results in

1470-522: The Gulf of Mexico. Higher standing stocks of zooplankton and micronekton were found in cold-core features than in both the Loop Current and the Loop Current Eddies. However, no difference in the abundance of euphausiids , planktonic shrimp-like marine crustaceans, was found between areas of upwelling and warm-core eddies, but in 2004 the hyperiid abundance was found to be lower within Loop Current Eddies as opposed to outside. Concurrently, it

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1540-420: The Gulf. Loop Current Frontal Eddies are cold-core, counter-clockwise rotating (cyclonic) eddies that form on or near the boundary of the Loop Current. LCFEs range from about 80 km to 120 km in diameter. These cold features are smaller than the warm-core eddies shed from the Loop Current. Multiple studies have shown differences in biological communities inside versus outside of the various features in

1610-547: The Loop Current and Loop Current Eddies. Alternatively, temperature may play a role for low abundances of both communities: Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna have developed behavioral patterns of avoiding the high temperatures associated with warm-core features, such as the Loop Current and Loop Current Eddies, in the Gulf of Mexico. It is possible, also, that planktonic species likewise avoid the higher temperatures in these features. Eddy (fluid dynamics) In fluid dynamics , an eddy

1680-446: The Loop Current. Within a fourteen-hour period, sea surface pressure dropped from 965 to 916 hectopascals, surface winds increased from 35 to 60 meters/second, and the storm condensed from a radius of 40 kilometers to 25 kilometers. Prior to the storm, the 20 °C isotherm was located at a depth between 175 and 200 meters, but was found 50 meters shallower after the storm had passed. While the majority of this hurricane induced cooling of

1750-510: The Loop current and intensified into a Category 5 storm with the help of the warm water. In the Gulf of Mexico, the deepest areas of warm water are associated with the Loop Current. The rings of current that have separated from the Loop Current are commonly called Loop Current eddies. The warm waters of the Loop Current and its associated eddies provide more energy to hurricanes and allow them to intensify. As hurricanes pass over warm areas of

1820-659: The Maya ruins of Tulum and Coba . The population of the Yucatán Peninsula is very different throughout each part of the Peninsula. Population density and ethnic composition are two factors that play into the total population. The most populated area is Mérida in Yucatán state and the surrounding region, contrasted by the state of Quintana Roo, the least populated part of the peninsula. In terms of ethnic composition,

1890-513: The Reynolds number is the ratio between inertial forces and viscous forces. The general form for the Reynolds number flowing through a tube of radius r (or diameter d ): where v is the velocity of the fluid, ρ is its density , r is the radius of the tube, and μ is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid. A turbulent flow in a fluid is defined by the critical Reynolds number, for a closed pipe this works out to approximately In terms of

1960-520: The Yucatán Peninsula any time of year. Although these storms pummel the area with heavy rains and high winds, they tend to be short-lived, clearing after about an hour. The average percentage of days with rain per month ranges from a monthly low of 7% in April to a high of 25% in October. Breezes can have a cooling effect, humidity is generally high, particularly in the remaining rainforest areas. Due to

2030-664: The Yucatán Peninsula is an unconfined flat lying karst landscape. Sinkholes, known locally as cenotes , are widespread in the northern lowlands. According to the Alvarez hypothesis , the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs at the transition from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene Period, the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg boundary), 66 million years ago was caused by an asteroid impact somewhere in

2100-525: The Yucatán Peninsula was largely a cattle ranching, logging, chicle and henequen production area. Since the 1970s, the Yucatán Peninsula has reoriented its economy towards tourism, especially in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Aside from tourism, another source of income that is important in the Peninsula is logging as well as chicle industries specifically in Belize. Oil was also found in certain parts of

2170-411: The Yucatán, bringing in more economic opportunities. Once a small fishing village, Cancún in the northeast of the peninsula has grown into a thriving city. The Riviera Maya , which stretches along the east coast of the peninsula between Cancún and Tulum , houses over 50,000 beds. The best-known locations are the former fishing town of Playa del Carmen , the ecological parks Xcaret and Xel-Há and

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2240-408: The Yucatán, is generally considered part of North America, while Guatemala and Belize are considered part of Central America. The proper derivation of the word Yucatán is widely debated. 17th-century Franciscan historian Diego López de Cogolludo offers two theories in particular. In the first one, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba , having first arrived to the peninsula in 1517, inquired the name of

2310-450: The aforementioned "Ring of Cenotes", as well as the presence of impact debris such as shocked quartz and tektites , a type of glass formed during meteorite impacts . The Arrowsmith Bank is a submerged bank located off the northeastern end of the peninsula. The peninsula has a tropical climate, which ranges from semi-arid in the northwest to humid in the south. Average annual rainfall ranges from less than 800 mm (30 inches) in

2380-437: The anticyclonic eddies were 57% more common and had more dives and deeper dives than the open ocean eddies and Gulf Stream cyclonic eddies. Within these anticyclonic eddies, the isotherm was displaced 50 meters downward allowing for the warmer water to penetrate deeper in the water column. This warmer water displacement may allow for the white sharks to make longer dives without the added energetic cost from thermal regulation in

2450-448: The arterial tree are typically laminar (high, directed wall stress), but branches and curvatures in the system cause turbulent flow. Turbulent flow in the arterial tree can cause a number of concerning effects, including atherosclerotic lesions, postsurgical neointimal hyperplasia, in-stent restenosis, vein bypass graft failure, transplant vasculopathy, and aortic valve calcification. Lift and drag properties of golf balls are customized by

2520-433: The atmosphere. Upwelling in stratified coastal estuaries warrant the formation of dynamic eddies which distribute nutrients out from beneath the boundary layer to form plumes. Shallow waters, such as those along the coast, play a complex role in the transport of nutrients and pollutants due to the proximity of the upper-boundary driven by the wind and the lower-boundary near the bottom of the water body. Eddies are common in

2590-407: The back of the obstacle. This phenomenon is naturally observed behind large emergent rocks in swift-flowing rivers. An eddy is a movement of fluid that deviates from the general flow of the fluid. An example for an eddy is a vortex which produces such deviation. However, there are other types of eddies that are not simple vortices. For example, a Rossby wave is an eddy which is an undulation that

2660-457: The coastal margins. The thousands of sinkholes known as cenotes throughout the region provide access to the groundwater system. The cenotes have long been relied on by ancient and contemporary Maya people. The vegetation and plant communities of the peninsula vary from north to south. The Yucatán dry forests occupy the dry northwestern peninsula, and include dry forests and scrublands and cactus scrub. The Yucatán moist forests occur across

2730-491: The cooler cyclones. Even though these anticyclonic eddies resulted in lower levels of chlorophyll in comparison to the cyclonic eddies, the warmer waters at deeper depths may allow for a deeper mixed layer and higher concentration of diatoms which in turn result in higher rates of primary productivity. Furthermore, the prey populations could be distributed more within these eddies attracting these larger female sharks to forage in this mesopelagic zone. This diving pattern may follow

2800-463: The critical Reynolds number, the critical velocity is represented as These are turbulence models in which the Reynolds stresses, as obtained from a Reynolds averaging of the Navier–Stokes equations , are modelled by a linear constitutive relationship with the mean flow straining field, as: where Hemodynamics is the study of blood flow in the circulatory system. Blood flow in straight sections of

2870-420: The current. In August 2021, Hurricane Ida moved over the Loop Current, allowing it to rapidly intensify from a Category 2 into a Category 4 hurricane over just one night. Hurricane strengthening and weakening is the product of extensive thermodynamic interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. Generally speaking, the evolution of a hurricane's intensity is determined by three factors. First,

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2940-764: The driest parts of the northwest up to 2,000 mm (80 inches) in the Petén Basin to the south. Rainfall varies seasonally, with August and September generally the wettest months. Like much of the Caribbean , the peninsula lies within the Atlantic Hurricane Belt, and with its almost uniformly flat terrain it is vulnerable to these large storms coming from the east, and the area has been devastated by many hurricanes, such as Hurricane Gilbert , Hurricane Emily , Hurricane Wilma , and Hurricane Dean . Strong storms called nortes can quickly descend on

3010-531: The east along the Caribbean Sea. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is an immense coral barrier reef which stretches over 1,100 km (700 miles) along the eastern coast of the peninsula. The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán , Campeche , and Quintana Roo , as well as Guatemala 's Petén Department and almost all of Belize . In the late historic and early modern eras,

3080-463: The eddy vortex. Also of note: tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes gain strength from, but are not steered by, the temperature of the water. They are steered by the atmosphere, and the atmospheric level involved in steering a hurricane is different at different intensities (i.e., it relates to the minimum pressure of the hurricane). Sea level is relatively easy to measure accurately using radars from satellites. Sea temperature below

3150-584: The eddy. That is, the water within an eddy usually has different temperature and salinity characteristics to the water outside the eddy. There is a direct link between the water mass properties of an eddy and its rotation. Warm eddies rotate anti-cyclonically, while cold eddies rotate cyclonically. Because eddies may have a vigorous circulation associated with them, they are of concern to naval and commercial operations at sea. Further, because eddies transport anomalously warm or cold water as they move, they have an important influence on heat transport in certain parts of

3220-601: The existence of at least two morphologically diverse groups of people living separately in Mexico during the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene . The Yucatán Peninsula constitutes a significant proportion of the ancient Maya lowlands and was the central location of the Maya Civilization. The Maya culture also extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula into Guatemala , Honduras , and the highlands of Chiapas . There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout

3290-569: The expedition is not the one captained by Córdoba but instead the one a year later captained by Juan de Grijalva . The second major theory is that the name is in some way related to the yuca crop, as written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo . Others theories claim that it is a derivative of Chontal Tabascan word yokat'an meaning speaker of the Yoko ochoco language, or an incorrect Nahuatl term yokatlan as supposedly "place of richness" ( yohcāuh cannot be paired with tlán ). The Yucatán Peninsula

3360-419: The extreme karst nature of the whole peninsula, the northern half is devoid of aboveground rivers. Where lakes and swamps are present, the water is marshy and generally unpotable. Due to its coastal location, the whole of the peninsula is underlain by an extensive contiguous density stratified coastal aquifer , where a fresh water lens formed from meteoric water floats on top of intruding saline water from

3430-743: The globe. While the transport of organisms, such as phytoplankton , are essential for the preservation of ecosystems, oil and other pollutants are also mixed in the current flow and can carry pollution far from its origin. Eddy formations circulate trash and other pollutants into concentrated areas which researchers are tracking to improve clean-up and pollution prevention. The distribution and motion of plastics caused by eddy formations in natural water bodies can be predicted using Lagrangian transport models. Mesoscale ocean eddies play crucial roles in transferring heat poleward, as well as maintaining heat gradients at different depths. Modeling eddy development, as it relates to turbulence and fate transport phenomena,

3500-424: The greater Caribbean Basin . The deeply buried Chicxulub crater is centered off the north coast of the peninsula near the town of Chicxulub . The now-famous "Ring of Cenotes," a geologic structure composed of sinkholes arranged in a semi-circle, outlines one of the shock-waves from this impact event in the approximately 66-million-year-old rock. The existence of the crater has been supported by evidence including

3570-428: The initial intensity of a tropical cyclone is a predominant factor and its strength will be reflected throughout the storm's life. Second, the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere through which the cyclone moves will affect its ability to strengthen, as strong horizontal winds will disperse internal circulation and prevent the vertical stacking of energy within the storm. The third component affecting hurricane intensity

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3640-732: The largest continuous tracts of tropical rainforest in Central America . However, these forests are suffering extensive deforestation . Mangroves occur along the coast, with the Usumacinta mangroves around the Laguna de Términos in the southwest, the Petenes mangroves along the west coast, Ría Lagartos mangroves along the northern shore of the peninsula, and the Mayan Corridor mangroves and Belizean Coast mangroves to

3710-421: The manipulation of dimples along the surface of the ball, allowing for the golf ball to travel further and faster in the air. The data from turbulent-flow phenomena has been used to model different transitions in fluid flow regimes, which are used to thoroughly mix fluids and increase reaction rates within industrial processes. Oceanic and atmospheric currents transfer particles, debris, and organisms all across

3780-399: The masses from surrounding Gulf Common Waters. The rings can measure 200 to 400 kilometers in diameter and extend down to a depth of 1000 meters. Around 1970, it was believed that the Loop Current exhibited an annual cycle in which the Loop feature extended farther to the north during the summer. Further study over the past few decades, however, has shown that the extension to the north (and

3850-538: The middle and east of the peninsula, and are characterized by semi-deciduous forests where 25 to 50% of the trees lose their leaves during the summer dry season. The Belizian pine forests are found in several enclaves across central Belize. The southernmost portion of the peninsula is in the Petén–Veracruz moist forests ecoregion, an evergreen rain forest. Northern Guatemala ( El Petén ), Mexico ( Campeche and Quintana Roo ), and western Belize are still occupied by

3920-402: The mixed layer was attributed to upwelling (due to Ekman divergence), another 2000 to 3000 watts/meter squared were estimated to be lost through heat flux at the air-water interface of the storm's core. Furthermore, buoy-derived sea surface temperature readings recorded temperature dropping 2° to 3 °C as Opal passed over Gulf Common Waters, but only 0.5° to 1 °C as the storm encountered

3990-481: The more massive ocean mixed layer associated with the warm core eddy. In 2008, Hurricane Gustav transited the Loop Current, but due to the current's temperature (then only in the high 80's-degrees-F) and truncated size (extending only halfway from Cuba to Louisiana, with cooler water in-between its tip and the Louisiana coast) the storm remained a category 3 hurricane instead of increasing strength as it passed over

4060-465: The movement and diving behavior of two female white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) within the eddies. The eddies were defined using sea surface height (SSH) and contours using the horizontal speed-based radius scale. This study found that the white sharks dove in both cyclones but favored the anticyclone which had three times more dives as the cyclonic eddies. Additionally, in the Gulf Stream eddies,

4130-616: The ocean contains a sea surface height gradient this creates a jet or current, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current . This current as part of a baroclinically unstable system meanders and creates eddies (in much the same way as a meandering river forms an oxbow lake ). These types of mesoscale eddies have been observed in many major ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream , the Agulhas Current ,

4200-549: The ocean, and range in diameter from centimeters to hundreds of kilometers. The smallest scale eddies may last for a matter of seconds, while the larger features may persist for months to years. Eddies that are between about 10 and 500 km (6 and 300 miles) in diameter and persist for periods of days to months are known in oceanography as mesoscale eddies. Mesoscale eddies can be split into two categories: static eddies, caused by flow around an obstacle (see animation) , and transient eddies, caused by baroclinic instability. When

4270-448: The ocean. The sub-tropical Northern Atlantic is known to have both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies that are associated with high surface chlorophyll and low surface chlorophyll, respectively. The presence of chlorophyll and higher levels of chlorophyll allows this region to support higher biomass of phytoplankton, as well as, supported by areas of increased vertical nutrient fluxes and transportation of biological communities. This area of

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4340-509: The open ocean and how the removal of fish in this region may impact this pelagic food web is crucial for the fish populations and apex predators that may rely on this food source in addition to making better ecosystem-based management plans. Yucat%C3%A1n Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( / ˌ j uː k ə ˈ t ɑː n , - ˈ t æ n / YOO -kə- TA(H)N , UK also / ˌ j ʊ k -/ YUU - ; Spanish : Península de Yucatán [peˈninsula ðe ʝukaˈtan] )

4410-493: The peninsula; some of the better-known are Chichen Itza , Coba , Tulum , and Uxmal . Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there. The peninsula is the exposed portion of the larger Yucatán Platform , all of which is composed of carbonate and soluble rocks, being mostly limestone although dolomite and evaporites are also present at various depths. The whole of

4480-467: The shedding of eddies) does not have a significant annual cycle, but does vacillate in the north-south and east-west directions on an inter-annual basis. The Loop Current and its eddies may be detected by measuring sea surface level. Sea surface level of both the eddies and the Loop on September 21, 2005 was up to 60 cm (24 in) higher than surrounding water, indicating a deep area of warm water beneath them. On that day, Hurricane Rita passed over

4550-465: The surface is not as easy to measure widely, but can be inferred from the sea level since warmer water expands and thus (all other factors, such as water depth, being equal) a vertical column of water will rise slightly higher when warmed. Thus sea level is often used as a proxy for deep sea temperatures. NOAA 's National Data Buoy Center maintains a large number of data buoys in the Gulf of Mexico, some of which measure sea temperature one meter below

4620-407: The surface. The Loop Current and Loop Current Eddies affect biological communities within the Gulf of Mexico. In general, however, it is not the warm-core Loop Current and eddies themselves that affect these communities. Instead, it is the smaller cold-core features known as Frontal Eddies that form around the boundary of the Loop Current and Loop Current Eddies, which affect biological communities in

4690-427: The upwelling of colder thermocline water. Finally, the turbulent entrainment of colder thermocline waters caused by wind stirring also results in the cooling of the surface waters. These are the reasons that the depth of the ocean mixed layer is more important in hurricane deepening than sea surface temperature . A thin veneer of warm surface waters will be more susceptible to hurricane induced cooling than waters with

4760-557: Was expected to make its Florida landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, but after encountering the southeastern portion of the Loop Current, it reached the Florida coast as a category 3 instead. While not as infamous as Katrina, Hurricane Opal most definitively illustrates the deepening abilities of a warm core ring. After crossing the Yucatán Peninsula , Opal reentered the Gulf of Mexico and passed over an eddy shed by

4830-632: Was found that nutrient (nitrate) levels were low above 100 meters within warm-core eddies, while nitrate levels were high within cold features. Low standing stock of chlorophyll, primary production, and zooplankton biomass was found to be low in LCEs. Low chlorophyll concentrations and primary production are likely a result of low nutrients levels, as many planktonic species require nitrate and other nutrients to survive. In turn, low primary production could be one cause of heterotrophic (organism-eating, as opposed to photosynthetic) species abundances being low inside

4900-541: Was left in the cave to die there”. The newly discovered skeleton was 140 meters away from the Chan Hol 2 site. Although archaeologists assumed the divers had found the remains of the missing Chan Hol 2, the analysis soon proved that these assumptions were erroneous. Stinnesbeck compared the new bones to old photographs of Chan Hol 2 and showed that the two skeletons represent different individuals. Due to their distinctive features, study co-researcher Samuel Rennie suggest

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