Topographic control of Southern Ocean gyres and the Antarctic circumpolar current: A barotropic perspective
Topographic control of Southern Ocean gyres and the Antarctic circumpolar current: A barotropic perspective
In the Southern Ocean the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is significantly steered by large topographic features, and subpolar gyres form in their lee. The geometry of topographic features in the Southern Ocean is highly variable, but the influence of this variation on the large-scale flow is poorly understood. Using idealized barotropic simulations of a zonal channel with a meridional ridge, it is found that the ridge geometry is important for determining the net zonal volume transport. A relationship is observed between ridge width and volume transport that is determined by the form stress generated by the ridge. Gyre formation is also highly reliant on the ridge geometry. A steep ridge allows gyres to form within regions of unblocked geostrophic (f/H) contours, with an increase in gyre strength as the ridge width is reduced. These relationships among ridge width, gyre strength, and net zonal volume transport emerge to simultaneously satisfy the conservation of momentum and vorticity.
3221-3244
Patmore, Ryan D.
a6894c52-fc70-4b66-abc8-b36f69ea7454
Holland, Paul R.
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Munday, David R.
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Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
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Stevens, David P.
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Meredith, Michael P.
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December 2019
Patmore, Ryan D.
a6894c52-fc70-4b66-abc8-b36f69ea7454
Holland, Paul R.
1288654c-2b5b-4d4c-b360-7eebe59c7539
Munday, David R.
4fb59459-74b1-42ee-ab79-5da0875e385e
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
97c0e923-f076-4b38-b89b-938e11cea7a6
Stevens, David P.
80cd1121-2231-443b-a5e2-32235739fca0
Meredith, Michael P.
25fd5f1c-f3ed-40a2-af59-5a7074a25fcd
Patmore, Ryan D., Holland, Paul R., Munday, David R., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Stevens, David P. and Meredith, Michael P.
(2019)
Topographic control of Southern Ocean gyres and the Antarctic circumpolar current: A barotropic perspective.
Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49 (12), .
(doi:10.1175/JPO-D-19-0083.1).
Abstract
In the Southern Ocean the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is significantly steered by large topographic features, and subpolar gyres form in their lee. The geometry of topographic features in the Southern Ocean is highly variable, but the influence of this variation on the large-scale flow is poorly understood. Using idealized barotropic simulations of a zonal channel with a meridional ridge, it is found that the ridge geometry is important for determining the net zonal volume transport. A relationship is observed between ridge width and volume transport that is determined by the form stress generated by the ridge. Gyre formation is also highly reliant on the ridge geometry. A steep ridge allows gyres to form within regions of unblocked geostrophic (f/H) contours, with an increase in gyre strength as the ridge width is reduced. These relationships among ridge width, gyre strength, and net zonal volume transport emerge to simultaneously satisfy the conservation of momentum and vorticity.
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 September 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 December 2019
Published date: December 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 437917
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/437917
ISSN: 0022-3670
PURE UUID: 9cc26f7b-810b-4824-9e73-123e3b4f87e7
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Date deposited: 24 Feb 2020 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:04
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Author:
Ryan D. Patmore
Author:
Paul R. Holland
Author:
David R. Munday
Author:
David P. Stevens
Author:
Michael P. Meredith
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