Thermohaline structure in the loop current, in the presence of hurricanes that affected Cuba in 2002-2022
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Abstract
An investigation is presented, about the particularities of the thermohaline structure in the area of the Loop current, in the wake of tropical cyclones that moved from Cuban territory or its vicinity to those waters of the Gulf of Mexico, during the period 2002-2022. Of 38 cases, identified in the Cuban vortex area, almost a third affected the national territory with strong winds, heavy rain, high waves and coastal flooding, with an average of one case every two years, for a total of 11, that were selected as study cases. It is valid to point out that none of them originated in that region, but rather they moved there, from the Caribbean sea or the Atlantic ocean. It was possible to identify the most favorable areas for hurricane intensification, due to their oceanographic characteristics. They are located in the latitudes of 23-24ºN, adjacent to the Yucatán channel and towards the south-eastern area of the Gulf of Mexico; in this zone, the isothermal layer shows thicknesses of more of 50 m and the warm waters, with temperatures of more than 26ºC, occupy more than a hundred meters thick. Furthermore, the high values of salinity, with more than 36.5 psu and the maximum located between 150 and 200 m depth, favor the accumulation of heat, in the first hundred meters, from the surface.
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