Frontogenesis and subsequent formation of cold filaments and eddies on an idealized shelf

Cold filaments in the eastern Gulf of Mexico are investigated using a numerical model to simulate the effect of cooling over an idealized shelf. A horizontal density gradient induces an alongshelf current that in time becomes unstable. As these instabilities grow, filaments and latter eddies are generated, so that dense water near the coast is exchanged with the offshore in an attempt to balance the surface heat loss over the sloping shelf.