The Formation of the Yucatan Current Based on Observations of Summer 1971

Abstract

Temperature, salinity and Lagrangian current data collected during the summer of 1971 in the western Caribbean Sea are employed to evaluate the ageostrophic components of the flow in the formation region of the Yucatan Current. The ratio of tangential and centripetal accelerations to Coriolis acceleration for data averaged over 24 h periods remain less than 10% except in two areas. An anticyclonic turn, centered at 19°30?N, 86°W, has the largest centripetal accelerations, and in the region of Cozumel Island significant tangential accelerations occur. The large-scale accelerations and additional evidence support the hypothesis that inertial effects dominate in the formation of the Yucatan Current.