Some observations of ring topography and ring‐ring interactions in the Gulf of Mexico

The movement and interactions of Loop Current rings are studied using trajectory and sea surface temperature (SST) data from the Gulf of Mexico. The movements of three rings as determiend by drifters seeded in the rings are compared. The data show the rings moving west through the deepest portion of the Gulf and then northward after impacting with the Mexican coast. The trajectory data indicate a ring life span of at least 9–13 months, with two of the rings persisting off the Mexican coast for at least 3–5 months. The trajectory of a fourth drifter, not seeded in a ring, still shows strong anticyclonic motion. The SST data for the period that this last drifter was deployed show the interaction of three anticyclones in the western Gulf. The drifter circles all three anticyclones and shows, along with the SST data, the coalescing of two of the anticyclones.