Modes of North Atlantic Western boundary current variability at 36° N.

The surface-intensified, poleward-flowing Gulf Stream (GS) encounters the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) at 36° N off Cape Hatteras. In this study, daily output from a data-assimilative, high-resolution (800 m), regional ocean reanalysis was examined to quantify variability in the velocity structure of the GS and DWBC during 2017-2018. The validity of this reanalysis was confirmed with independent observations of ocean velocity and density that demonstrate a high level of realism in the model's representation of the regional circulation. The model's daily velocity time series across a transect off Cape Hatteras was examined using rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis, and analysis suggests three leading modes that characterize the variability of the western boundary currents throughout the water column. The first mode, related to meandering of the GS current, accounts for 55.3% of the variance, followed by a "wind-forced mode", which accounts for 12.5% of the variance. The third mode, influenced by the DWBC and upper-ocean eddies, accounts for 7.1% of the variance.

Continuous Flow of Upper Labrador Sea Water around Cape Hatteras.

Six velocity sections straddling Cape Hatteras show a deep counterflow rounding the Cape wedged beneath the poleward flowing Gulf Stream and the continental slope. This counterflow is likely the upper part of the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Hydrographic data suggest that the equatorward flow sampled by the shipboard 38 kHz ADCP comprises the Upper Labrador Sea Water (ULSW) layer and top of the Classical Labrador Sea Water (CLSW) layer. Continuous DWBC flow around the Cape implied by the closely-spaced velocity sections here is also corroborated by the trajectory of an Argo float. These findings contrast with previous studies based on floats and tracers in which the lightest DWBC constituents did not follow the boundary to cross under the Gulf Stream at Cape Hatteras but were diverted into the interior as the DWBC encountered the Gulf Stream in the crossover region. Additionally, our six quasi-synoptic velocity sections confirm that the Gulf Stream intensified markedly at that time as it approached the separation point and flowed into deeper waters. Downstream increases were observed not only in the poleward transport across the sections but also in the current's maximum speed.

Evolución del estado psicológico y el miedo en la infancia y adolescencia durante el confinamiento por la COVID-19 / Evolution of psychological state and fear in childhood and adolescence during COVID-19 lockdown

La pandemia COVID-19 ha conllevado un confinamiento que puede haber afectado al bienestar social y emocional en la infancia y adolescencia, como se está estudiando desde diferentes investigaciones. El presente estudio analiza las relaciones entre el estado psicológico general de los menores y los miedos a enfermedades y contagios por virus; además, valora estas relaciones en el trascurso del confinamiento y en función de la edad. Han participado 972 familias con hijos/as entre 3 y 18 años. Los resultados indican que las mayores dificultades psicológicas se centran en los problemas emocionales, los problemas de conducta y la puntuación de dificultades totales. Además, se evidencia una relación positiva entre los miedos asociados a la COVID-19 y la presencia de esos problemas en la población infanto-juvenil. Se destaca que, según avanza el confinamiento, aumenta la presencia de dificultades psicológicas y que estas afectan de manera diferencial en la infancia y en la adolescencia

Evolution of psychological state and fear in childhood and adolescence during COVID-19 lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a lockdown that may have affected social and emotional well-being in childhood and adolescence, as is being explored from different research. The present study analyses the relations between the general psychological state and the fears of diseases and virus infections. Furthermore, it assesses these relations in the course of lockdown and as a function of age. A total of 972 families with children between 3 and 18 have participated. The results indicate that the highest psychological difficulties are focused on emotional symptoms, the behavioral problems and the total difficulty score. In addition, there is a positive relation between fears associated with COVID-19 and the presence of these problems in the infant population. It should be noted that, as confinement advances, the presence of psychological difficulties increases, and these affect children and adolescents differently

Direct interaction between the Gulf Stream and the shelfbreak south of New England.

Sea surface temperature imagery, satellite altimetry, and a surface drifter track reveal an unusual tilt in the Gulf Stream path that brought the Gulf Stream to 39.9°N near the Middle Atlantic Bight shelfbreak--200 km north of its mean position--in October 2011, while a large meander brought Gulf Stream water within 12 km of the shelfbreak in December 2011. Near-bottom temperature measurements from lobster traps on the outer continental shelf south of New England show distinct warming events (temperature increases exceeding 6°C) in November and December 2011. Moored profiler measurements over the continental slope show high salinities and temperatures, suggesting that the warm water on the continental shelf originated in the Gulf Stream. The combination of unusual water properties over the shelf and slope in late fall and the subsequent mild winter may affect seasonal stratification and habitat selection for marine life over the continental shelf in 2012.