Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Coastal ocean dynamics regulate the heat and material budgets of highly productive and economically important regions of the world’s oceans. In-depth understanding of coastal processes has, for too long, been hindered by the shortage of high-quality observational data, particularly for ocean salinity.
Using remote sensing ocean salinity data, Ryan et al. [2024] provide valuable insights into the dynamic processes over the Northeast United States continental shelf. The analysis reveals a vital interplay between the river-sourced fresh waters and salty waters from the Gulf Stream on seasonal and interannual timescales. Changes in ocean salinity, controlled by river discharge and eddies, greatly affect the time-varying local stratification on the continental shelf, leaving potential impacts on local biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems. This study points to the vital role of ocean salinity in property changes in coastal waters and highlights the complexity of ocean dynamics on continental shelves.
Citation: Ryan, S., Ummenhofer, C. C., & Gawarkiewicz, G. G. (2024). Seasonal and interannual salinity variability on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf: Insights from satellite sea surface salinity and implications for stratification. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129, e2024JC021534. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC021534
—Yuanlong Li, Editor, JGR: Oceans