Eddies around Madagascar - the retroflection re-considered
Eddies around Madagascar - the retroflection re-considered
The Agulhas Current with its retroflection and attendant eddy-shedding is the cause of some of the greatest mesoscale variability in the ocean. This paper considers the area to the south and east of Madagascar, which provides some of the source waters of the Agulhas Current, and examines the propagating sea surface height signals in altimetry and output from a numerical model, OCCAM. Both show bands of variability along the axis of the East Madagascar Current (EMC) and along a zonal band near 25°S. Sequences of images plus associated temperature data suggest that a number of westward-propagating eddies are present in this zonal band. The paper then focuses on the region to the south of the island, where ocean colour and infra-red imagery are evocative of an East Madagascar Retroflection. The synthesis of data analysed in this paper, however, show that remotely observed features in this area can be explained by anticyclonic eddies moving westward through the region, and this explanation is consistent with numerical model output and the trajectories of drifting buoys.
Retroflection, eddies, biophysical interactions, upwelling, current variability
115-129
Quartly, Graham D.
3d1e4e87-f001-4d18-b95f-9bca4db6ff9d
Buck, Justin J.H.
fb22cd67-663d-4d4d-af2b-59f421a325f0
Srokosz, Meric A.
1e0442ce-679f-43f2-8fe4-9a0f0174d483
Coward, Andrew C.
53b78140-2e65-476a-b287-e8384a65224b
2006
Quartly, Graham D.
3d1e4e87-f001-4d18-b95f-9bca4db6ff9d
Buck, Justin J.H.
fb22cd67-663d-4d4d-af2b-59f421a325f0
Srokosz, Meric A.
1e0442ce-679f-43f2-8fe4-9a0f0174d483
Coward, Andrew C.
53b78140-2e65-476a-b287-e8384a65224b
Quartly, Graham D., Buck, Justin J.H., Srokosz, Meric A. and Coward, Andrew C.
(2006)
Eddies around Madagascar - the retroflection re-considered.
Journal of Marine Systems, 63 (3-4), .
(doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2006.06.001).
Abstract
The Agulhas Current with its retroflection and attendant eddy-shedding is the cause of some of the greatest mesoscale variability in the ocean. This paper considers the area to the south and east of Madagascar, which provides some of the source waters of the Agulhas Current, and examines the propagating sea surface height signals in altimetry and output from a numerical model, OCCAM. Both show bands of variability along the axis of the East Madagascar Current (EMC) and along a zonal band near 25°S. Sequences of images plus associated temperature data suggest that a number of westward-propagating eddies are present in this zonal band. The paper then focuses on the region to the south of the island, where ocean colour and infra-red imagery are evocative of an East Madagascar Retroflection. The synthesis of data analysed in this paper, however, show that remotely observed features in this area can be explained by anticyclonic eddies moving westward through the region, and this explanation is consistent with numerical model output and the trajectories of drifting buoys.
Text
Quartly_et_al_JMarSys_18pp.pdf
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Published date: 2006
Keywords:
Retroflection, eddies, biophysical interactions, upwelling, current variability
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 41440
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/41440
ISSN: 0924-7963
PURE UUID: 3080e9a2-76b0-4325-b833-cf7e768b32a7
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Date deposited: 07 Sep 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 08:29
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Contributors
Author:
Graham D. Quartly
Author:
Justin J.H. Buck
Author:
Meric A. Srokosz
Author:
Andrew C. Coward
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