Observations of Inertial Wave Events near the Continental Slope off Goban Spur

Abstract

Near-inertial waves were observed during the Ocean Margin Exchange (OMEX-I) experiments with current meters over the continental slope near Goban Spur. The strongest inertial motion was observed in the bottom layer, about 50 m above the 1000-m isobath. There the waves were slightly (1.7%) superinertial and the bottom slope appeared to be critical for the near-inertial peak frequency, allowing the velocity vector to follow the sloping bottom. The vertical velocity component of this motion was responsible for the near-inertial spectral peak in the temperature spectrum, which was also observed in the bottom layer. Evidence was found supporting the speculative hypothesis that high-energy near-inertial wave events were produced during geostrophic adjustment in the variable deep eastern-boundary current over the slope near Goban Spur.