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    On the wind-driven European shelf sea-level variability and the associated oceanic circulation


    Diabaté, Sam T., Fraser, Neil J., White, Martin, Berx, Barbara, Marié, Louis and McCarthy, Gerard (2025) On the wind-driven European shelf sea-level variability and the associated oceanic circulation. Continental Shelf Research, 291 (105466). pp. 1-15. ISSN 02784343

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    Abstract

    The shelf to the west of Ireland, France and the United Kingdom is a region where currents and sea level respond to the wind activity in a remarkable manner throughout a range of timescales. Using altimetry-obtained measurements and a wind reanalysis, we demonstrate in the present contribution how the sub-annual sea-level variability can be understood as a response to the wind action. The winds drive water towards (away from) the coastline through Ekman transport, yielding sea-level changes coherent along and across the shelf and with maximum amplitude at the coast. The alignment of the winds with the isobaths determines the magnitude of sea-level changes. To investigate the impacts of these changes on the circulation variability, we bring together a comprehensive dataset of 30+ in-situ observations of recent current changes. Using these measurements, we show that sub-annual changes in the shelf-edge circulation from the Goban Spur to the Faroe-Shetland Channel arise from the geostrophic adjustment to shelf sea-level variations induced by the Ekman-driven accumulation of water towards the coastline. Our analysis suggests that the along-isobath current generated through this mechanism are primarily found over the shelf, only impinge on the upper slope, and do not affect the circulation above greater depth (>500 m). Nonetheless, important slope circulations such as the Rockall Slope Current are substantially influenced on their shoreward side by this simple geostrophic adjustment process. Because sea-level changes co-vary over large distances on the shelf, there also is remarkable along-isobath coherence in the associated current changes but we warn against concluding this is evidence for the continuity of an‘European Slope Current’ circumnavigating the European slope from Portugal to Norway.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Sea-level changes; Shelf variability; In-situ currents; Wind forcing; Rockall slope current; European slope current,Sub-annual timescales
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
    Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
    Item ID: 19916
    Identification Number: 10.1016/j.csr.2025.105466
    Depositing User: Gerard McCarthy
    Date Deposited: 28 May 2025 09:46
    Journal or Publication Title: Continental Shelf Research
    Publisher: Elsevier
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19916
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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