Aspects of warm rings in the Gulf of Mexico

Various aspects of warm rings in the Gulf of Mexico were derived from satellite infrared data and Ship‐of‐Opportunity data. After the warm rings separate from the Loop Current, they move into the western Gulf of Mexico. It was shown from 12 years of data (1973 through 1984) that there are three characteristic paths of movements of the rings: a northern path, a mid‐Gulf path, and a path that takes the rings into the southern extremities of the western Gulf of Mexico. It was shown that all three paths eventually lead the ring to a region in the northwestern portion of the western Gulf of Mexico (the area defined by 25°N to 28°N and 93°W to 96°W). As the rings move from the eastern Gulf to the western Gulf, the speed of the ring was observed to oscillate. The oscillation is over a speed range from 1 to 8 km per day, on the average, and the period varies from 40 to 100 days. The average speed of the ring was 5 km per day. After the ring separates from the Loop Current, the surface area of the ring decreases to about 55 percent of its initial size in approximately 150 days and to about 31 percent of its initial size in about 300 days.