A Space- and Time-Scale Characterization of Circulation and Mixing over Submarine Banks, with Application to the Northwestern Atlantic Continental Shelf

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Abstract
The circulation and mixing over submarine banks is described in terms of integral space and time scales determined from Eulerian and Lagrangian currents. The time scales include the time for vertical diffusion across the pycnocline or water depth, the recirculation times of any residual gyre, and the residence time over the bank. These may be intercompared to obtain a description of a bank's physical regime and compared with the time scales associated with biological processes to identify possible physical–biological linkages. The space scales include the vertical diffusion distance during a time interval and the excursions associated with horizontal current fluctuations. These may be compared with topographically imposed and biologial space scales. The integral-scale characterization is applied to four northwestern Atlantic banks. The data suggest that the vertical diffusion time is longer than the recirculation and residence times of the surface water on Flemish Cap, shorter on Browns and Georges Banks, and comparable with the Southeast Shoal residence time; the recirculation time is greater than the residence time of the near-surface water on all banks except Georges and the western cap of Browns Bank; and the cross-bank excursions are much less than the bank radius on all except Browns Bank.

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