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. The Environmental Fluid Dynamics Lecture Series Presents a Seminar Shelf circulation and associated ecosystem impacts in the northern Gulf of Mexico Prof. Robert Hetland Professor Department of Oceanography Texas A&M University College Station, Texas Tuesday, April 19, 2016 129 Hayes-Healy 11 am-12 noon Fresh water inputs from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers and regional winds are the two main drivers of circulation on the Texas-Louisiana shelf. The circulation is generally divided into two seasons: summer and non-summer. Non-summer circulation is characterized by storms and strong downcoast flow, from Louisiana toward Texas. Summer conditions are characterized by weak upwelling that causes the shelf to be strongly stratified. These patterns, and the changes in these patterns from year to year, are important for the shelf ecosystem. For example, summertime stratification allows the formation of a sizable region of low bottom oxygen, the 'deadzone.' Subtle changes in summertime winds strongly influence the areal extent of this hypoxic region. In fall, alterations in the wind patterns and associated along-shore currents are associated with the occurrence of harmful algal blooms along the Texas coast. Dr. Robert Hetland received his Ph. D. in Oceanography from Florida State University in 1999, and joined the Oceanography Department at Texas A&M University in 2000. His research interests include the theory and numerical simulation of buoyancy driven flow in estuarine, coastal, and continental shelf environments; applications include plankton bloom dynamics, continental shelf hypoxia, ocean current forecasting for oil spill trajectory prediction.
