Volume 68
The Factors of the Sargassum Migratory Loop System; Determining the Influential Fluctuating Dynamics Primarily Responsible for the Anomalous 2014, 2015 Sargassum Seasons
Authors
Hill, B.N., T. Linton V. Bartlett, and M. Davlasheridze Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2015
Pages: 411 - 416
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Panama City
Country: Panama
Abstract
An analysis of the variables within the Sargassum Migratory Loop during the 2014 and 2015 Sargassum seasons was conducted. In 2014 the Gulf of Mexico experienced the largest landing of Sargassum in recorded history but practically no landings in 2015. Whereas in 2015 the nations in the Caribbean Sea experienced the largest landing that can be remembered for the area. Based on the observations using the Webster SEAS predictive model it appears that the factors responsible are a combination of the flooding of the Amazon River Basin, and the irregular fluctuation of the Azores High Pressure System that occurred during those two years. As a result of the abnormal number of cold fronts that passed over the south-western Gulf Coast in 2014 and the shifting of oceanic currents further south thus driving Sargassum into the area enriched by the Amazon flood waters. The cold fronts held the Sargassum offshore, in nutrient rich water, allowing extra time to grow before landing on the beaches in 2014. The southern shift in currents continued and thus held the Sargassum in that growth area and in the Caribbean Sea.