Circulation, salinity, and dissolved oxygen in the Cretaceous North American seaway

Critical paleoceanographic problems regarding the maximum transgressive phase of the Cretaceous North American seaway have been studied with a three-dimensional ocean circulation model. Four simulations employing minimum and maximum solar insolation winds from the Cretaceous and a wide range of precipitation- evaporation (P-E) rates have been conducted. Winter, minimum solar insolation winds are similar to modern zonal wind patterns and produce a subtropical gyre with a strong western boundary current and broad, easterly return flow. Winter and summer maximum solar insolation winds and summer minimum solar insolation winds do not have significant wind stress curl and produce western and eastern boundary currents of equal intensity. Residence time of shallow (<100 m) water ranges from 0.6 to 2.5 yrs while deep water mass residence time varies from 1.3 to 4.6 yrs.