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Sustained monitoring of the Southern Ocean at Drake Passage: past achievements and future priorities

Sustained monitoring of the Southern Ocean at Drake Passage: past achievements and future priorities
Sustained monitoring of the Southern Ocean at Drake Passage: past achievements and future priorities
Drake Passage is the narrowest constriction of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) in the Southern Ocean, with implications for global ocean circulation and climate. We review the long-term sustained monitoring programs that have been conducted at Drake Passage, dating back to the early part of the twentieth century. Attention is drawn to numerous breakthroughs that have been made from these programs, including (1) the first determinations of the complex ACC structure and early quantifications of its transport; (2) realization that the ACC transport is remarkably steady over interannual and longer periods, and a growing understanding of the processes responsible for this; (3) recognition of the role of coupled climate modes in dictating the horizontal transport and the role of anthropogenic processes in this; and (4) understanding of mechanisms driving changes in both the upper and lower limbs of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation and their impacts. It is argued that monitoring of this passage remains a high priority for oceanographic and climate research but that strategic improvements could be made concerning how this is conducted. In particular, long-term programs should concentrate on delivering quantifications of key variables of direct relevance to large-scale environmental issues: In this context, the time-varying overturning circulation is, if anything, even more compelling a target than the ACC flow. Further, there is a need for better international resource sharing and improved spatiotemporal coordination of the measurements. If achieved, the improvements in understanding of important climatic issues deriving from Drake Passage monitoring can be sustained into the future.
RG4005
Meredith, Michael P.
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Woodworth, Philip L.
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Chereskin, Teresa K.
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Marshall, David P.
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Allison, Lesley C.
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Bigg, Grant R.
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Donohue, Kathy
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Heywood, Karen J.
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Hughes, Chris W.
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Hibbert, Angela
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Hogg, Andrew McC.
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Johnson, Helen L.
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Jullion, Loïc
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King, Brian A.
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Leach, Harry
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Lenn, Yueng-Djern
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Morales Maqueda, Miguel A.
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Munday, David R.
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Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
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Provost, Christine
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Sallée, Jean-Baptiste
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Sprintall, Janet
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Meredith, Michael P.
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Woodworth, Philip L.
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Chereskin, Teresa K.
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Marshall, David P.
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Allison, Lesley C.
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Bigg, Grant R.
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Donohue, Kathy
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Heywood, Karen J.
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Hughes, Chris W.
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Hibbert, Angela
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Hogg, Andrew McC.
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Johnson, Helen L.
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Jullion, Loïc
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King, Brian A.
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Leach, Harry
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Lenn, Yueng-Djern
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Morales Maqueda, Miguel A.
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Munday, David R.
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Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
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Provost, Christine
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Sallée, Jean-Baptiste
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Sprintall, Janet
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Meredith, Michael P., Woodworth, Philip L., Chereskin, Teresa K., Marshall, David P., Allison, Lesley C., Bigg, Grant R., Donohue, Kathy, Heywood, Karen J., Hughes, Chris W., Hibbert, Angela, Hogg, Andrew McC., Johnson, Helen L., Jullion, Loïc, King, Brian A., Leach, Harry, Lenn, Yueng-Djern, Morales Maqueda, Miguel A., Munday, David R., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Provost, Christine, Sallée, Jean-Baptiste and Sprintall, Janet (2011) Sustained monitoring of the Southern Ocean at Drake Passage: past achievements and future priorities. Reviews of Geophysics, 49 (4), RG4005. (doi:10.1029/2010RG000348).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Drake Passage is the narrowest constriction of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) in the Southern Ocean, with implications for global ocean circulation and climate. We review the long-term sustained monitoring programs that have been conducted at Drake Passage, dating back to the early part of the twentieth century. Attention is drawn to numerous breakthroughs that have been made from these programs, including (1) the first determinations of the complex ACC structure and early quantifications of its transport; (2) realization that the ACC transport is remarkably steady over interannual and longer periods, and a growing understanding of the processes responsible for this; (3) recognition of the role of coupled climate modes in dictating the horizontal transport and the role of anthropogenic processes in this; and (4) understanding of mechanisms driving changes in both the upper and lower limbs of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation and their impacts. It is argued that monitoring of this passage remains a high priority for oceanographic and climate research but that strategic improvements could be made concerning how this is conducted. In particular, long-term programs should concentrate on delivering quantifications of key variables of direct relevance to large-scale environmental issues: In this context, the time-varying overturning circulation is, if anything, even more compelling a target than the ACC flow. Further, there is a need for better international resource sharing and improved spatiotemporal coordination of the measurements. If achieved, the improvements in understanding of important climatic issues deriving from Drake Passage monitoring can be sustained into the future.

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Published date: 2011
Organisations: Physical Oceanography, Marine Physics and Ocean Climate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 207403
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/207403
PURE UUID: 2da75cd2-5e6c-4b0b-a0b3-8811937d0359
ORCID for Alberto C. Naveira Garabato: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6071-605X

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Date deposited: 09 Jan 2012 17:17
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24

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Contributors

Author: Michael P. Meredith
Author: Philip L. Woodworth
Author: Teresa K. Chereskin
Author: David P. Marshall
Author: Lesley C. Allison
Author: Grant R. Bigg
Author: Kathy Donohue
Author: Karen J. Heywood
Author: Chris W. Hughes
Author: Angela Hibbert
Author: Andrew McC. Hogg
Author: Helen L. Johnson
Author: Loïc Jullion
Author: Brian A. King
Author: Harry Leach
Author: Yueng-Djern Lenn
Author: Miguel A. Morales Maqueda
Author: David R. Munday
Author: Christine Provost
Author: Jean-Baptiste Sallée
Author: Janet Sprintall

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