The Flow through the Gulf of Mexico

Four years (September 2012 to August 2016) of simultaneous current observations across the Yucatan Channel (~21.5°N) and the Straits of Florida (~81°W) have permitted us to investigate the characteristics of the flow through the Gulf of Mexico. The average transport in both channels is 27.6 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1), in accordance with previous estimates. At the Straits of Florida section, the transport related to the astronomical tide explains 55% of the observed variance with a mixed semidiurnal/diurnal character, while in the Yucatan Channel tides contribute 82% of the total variance and present a dominant diurnal character. At periods longer than a week the transports in the Yucatan and Florida sections have a correlation of 0.83 without any appreciable lag. The yearly running means of the transport time series in both channels are well correlated (0.98) and present a 3-Sv range variation in the 4 years analyzed. This long-term variability is well related to the convergence of the Sverdrup transport in the North Atlantic between 14.25° and 18.75°N. Using 2 years (July 2014–July 2016) of simultaneous currents observations in the Florida section, the Florida Cable section (~26.7°N), and a section across the Old Bahama Channel (~78.4°W), a mean northward transport of 28.4, 31.1, and 1.6 Sv, respectively, is obtained, implying that only 1.1 Sv is contributed by the Northwest Providence Channel to the mean transport observed at the Cable section during this 2-yr period.