Variability of the thermohaline structure in the northern Veracruz Coral Reef System, Mexico

The variability of the thermohaline fields is studied at different time scales in the Veracruz Coral Reef System (VCRS) with hydrographic data from eleven CTD campaigns carried out from 2006 to 2010 and time series of temperature obtained from a mooring array (22 months) and from a current profiler (21 months). Results show that, from October to March, the vertical structure of temperature was quasi-homogeneous, with temperature differences between surface and bottom waters of less than 0.5 °C, and temperature inversions were frequently observed. By contrast, strong stratification was observed in late spring and summer when the surface—bottom temperature difference can be larger than 8 °C. In some years, the lower bottom temperatures were observed during summer. The lower temperatures of the 2007–2010 period were observed during winter 2010, being 2 °C to 4 °C lower than those observed in the previous years. It was also the year showing more temperature variability during the summer months due to several atmospheric tropical systems that affected the region, like tropical cyclone Alex. The dominant water mass at the VCRS observed during the study period was the Gulf Common Water, with salinities lower than 36.5 psu and temperatures between 21.2 °C and 30.0 °C. In addition, during summer, high temperature and low salinity water from local rivers was observed in the upper 6 m. During autumn–winter, low temperature and salinity waters coming from the northwestern shelves of the gulf were observed.