A new study explores how the formation of cold core rings and warm core rings from the Gulf Stream has changed over the last 40 years and might have long-term effects on the ecosystem.
/filters:quality(90)/prod01/production-cdn-pxl/media/umassdartmouth/news/2021/core-rings-courtesy-of-Adrienne-Silver-1-850X414.jpg?text=945+WebP)
A recent study conducted by researchers at UMass Dartmouth explores the formation rates of cold core rings vs. warm core rings in the Gulf Stream based on temporal and geographical patterns over last 40 years. The study examines how the seasonal and interannual patterns of the formation of these rings are asymmetric, which resulted in excess heat input to the continental shelf and slope waters in the northeast US and Canada. This excess heat transfer might have lasting effects on the ecosystem and storms, including the impact on fisheries, weather, and climate.
Dr. Avijit Gangopadhyay, Professor of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology, co-authored the study with Senior Scientist Glen Gawarkiewicz of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution along with SMAST PhD student Adrienne Silver, who is the lead author. Other authors are E. Nishchitha S. Silva (from Boston University), and Jenifer Clark (Gulf Stream Analyst). Their research delves into understanding the seasonal and inter-annual variability of Gulf Stream warm core rings for nearly four decades, from 1980-2019.
Finding results involved developing a database based on Gulf Stream charts as well as documenting their own observations, observations by previous analysts, and applying survival analysis technique (a method employed in medical statistics). Read the full scope of the study titled “Interannual and seasonal asymmetries in Gulf Stream Ring Formations from 1980 to 2019,” in Nature Scientific Reports.