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arXiv · 2111.02522

Carriers of \emph{Sargassum} and mechanism for coastal inundation in the Caribbean Sea

F. Andrade-Canto·F. J. Beron-Vera·G. J. Goni·D. Karrasch·M. J. Olascoaga·J. Trinanes
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Abstract

We identify effective carriers of \emph{Sargassum} in the Caribbean Sea and describe a mechanism for coastal choking. Revealed from satellite altimetry, the carriers of \emph{Sargassum} are mesoscale eddies (vortices of 50-km radius or larger) with coherent material (i.e., fluid) boundaries. These are observer-independent -- \emph{unlike} eddy boundaries identified with instantaneously closed streamlines of the altimetric sea-surface height field -- and furthermore harbor finite-time attractors for networks of elastically connected finite-size buoyant or "inertial" particles dragged by ocean currents and winds, a mathematical abstraction of \emph{Sargassum} rafts. The mechanism of coastal inundation, identified using a minimal model of surface-intensified Caribbean Sea eddies, is thermal instability in the presence of bottom topography.

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F. Andrade-Canto, F. J. Beron-Vera, G. J. Goni, D. Karrasch, M. J. Olascoaga, J. Trinanes. 2021-11-03. Carriers of \emph{Sargassum} and mechanism for coastal inundation in the Caribbean Sea. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0079055

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