Deep boundary current disintegration in Drake Passage
Deep boundary current disintegration in Drake Passage
The fate of a deep boundary current that originates in the Southeast Pacific and flows southward along the continental slope of South America is elucidated. The current transports poorly ventilated water of low salinity (a type of Pacific Deep Water; PDW), into Drake Passage. East of Drake Passage, the boundary current breaks into fresh anticyclonic eddies, nine examples of which were observed in mooring data from December 2009 to March 2012. The observed eddies appear to originate mainly from a topographic separation point close to 60°W, have typical diameters of 20–60?km and accompanying Rossby numbers of 0.1–0.3. These features are likely to be responsible for transporting PDW meridionally across the ACC, explaining the near-homogenization of Circumpolar Deep Water properties downstream of Drake Passage. This mechanism of boundary current breakdown may constitute an important process in the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.
Boundary currents, Eddies, Overturning, Southern Ocean
121-127
Brearley, J. Alexander
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Sheen, Katy L.
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Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
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Smeed, David A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
Speer, Kevin G.
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Thurnherr, Andeaus M.
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Meredith, Michael M.
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Waterman, Stephanie N.
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16 January 2014
Brearley, J. Alexander
9c169a15-26ba-40c5-b21b-ee2375f63389
Sheen, Katy L.
68e5eb70-6a29-48a4-a26a-227407f88df5
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
97c0e923-f076-4b38-b89b-938e11cea7a6
Smeed, David A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
Speer, Kevin G.
c48b728f-ae70-4cda-8c5c-8d993bd21a2e
Thurnherr, Andeaus M.
97fb00b1-67c3-48cd-9c7b-54bf3125b21c
Meredith, Michael M.
d1305327-f6e4-45fc-a5f2-d3d0e6e4af1b
Waterman, Stephanie N.
2138017a-5d89-43f5-9f4f-8ff48bea7a61
Brearley, J. Alexander, Sheen, Katy L., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Smeed, David A., Speer, Kevin G., Thurnherr, Andeaus M., Meredith, Michael M. and Waterman, Stephanie N.
(2014)
Deep boundary current disintegration in Drake Passage.
Geophysical Research Letters, 41 (1), .
(doi:10.1002/2013GL058617).
Abstract
The fate of a deep boundary current that originates in the Southeast Pacific and flows southward along the continental slope of South America is elucidated. The current transports poorly ventilated water of low salinity (a type of Pacific Deep Water; PDW), into Drake Passage. East of Drake Passage, the boundary current breaks into fresh anticyclonic eddies, nine examples of which were observed in mooring data from December 2009 to March 2012. The observed eddies appear to originate mainly from a topographic separation point close to 60°W, have typical diameters of 20–60?km and accompanying Rossby numbers of 0.1–0.3. These features are likely to be responsible for transporting PDW meridionally across the ACC, explaining the near-homogenization of Circumpolar Deep Water properties downstream of Drake Passage. This mechanism of boundary current breakdown may constitute an important process in the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.
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Accepted/In Press date: June 2013
Published date: 16 January 2014
Keywords:
Boundary currents, Eddies, Overturning, Southern Ocean
Organisations:
Marine Systems Modelling, Physical Oceanography
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 354488
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354488
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 2f5e9ecf-6ee8-4676-a61d-0e7c761a55c9
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Date deposited: 11 Jul 2013 13:50
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
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Contributors
Author:
J. Alexander Brearley
Author:
Katy L. Sheen
Author:
David A. Smeed
Author:
Kevin G. Speer
Author:
Andeaus M. Thurnherr
Author:
Michael M. Meredith
Author:
Stephanie N. Waterman
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