Southern Ocean circulation
The Discovery Investigations of the 1930s provided a compelling description of the main elements of the Southern Ocean circulation. Over the intervening years, this has been extended to include ideas on ocean dynamics based on physical principles. In the modern description, the Southern Ocean has tw...
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Edinburgh University Press
2005
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 |
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credinunivpr:10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 2023-05-15T14:06:18+02:00 Southern Ocean circulation Cunningham, Stuart A. 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 en eng Edinburgh University Press https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm Archives of Natural History volume 32, issue 2, page 265-280 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology journal-article 2005 credinunivpr https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 2023-02-02T15:42:42Z The Discovery Investigations of the 1930s provided a compelling description of the main elements of the Southern Ocean circulation. Over the intervening years, this has been extended to include ideas on ocean dynamics based on physical principles. In the modern description, the Southern Ocean has two main circulations that are intimately linked: a zonal (west-east) circumpolar circulation and a meridional (north-south) overturning circulation. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current transports around 140 million cubic metres per second west to east around Antarctica. This zonal circulation connects the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, transferring and blending water masses and properties from one ocean basin to another. For the meridional circulation, a key feature is the ascent of waters from depths of around 2,000 metres north of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the surface south of the Current. In so doing, this circulation connects deep ocean layers directly to the atmosphere. The circumpolar zonal currents are not stable: meanders grow and separate, creating eddies and these eddies are critical to the dynamics of the Southern Ocean, linking the zonal circumpolar and meridional circulations. As a result of this connection, a global three-dimensional ocean circulation exists in which the Southern Ocean plays a central role in regulating the Earth's climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref) Antarctic Indian Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic Archives of Natural History 32 2 265 280 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
credinunivpr |
language |
English |
topic |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology |
spellingShingle |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology Cunningham, Stuart A. Southern Ocean circulation |
topic_facet |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology |
description |
The Discovery Investigations of the 1930s provided a compelling description of the main elements of the Southern Ocean circulation. Over the intervening years, this has been extended to include ideas on ocean dynamics based on physical principles. In the modern description, the Southern Ocean has two main circulations that are intimately linked: a zonal (west-east) circumpolar circulation and a meridional (north-south) overturning circulation. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current transports around 140 million cubic metres per second west to east around Antarctica. This zonal circulation connects the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, transferring and blending water masses and properties from one ocean basin to another. For the meridional circulation, a key feature is the ascent of waters from depths of around 2,000 metres north of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the surface south of the Current. In so doing, this circulation connects deep ocean layers directly to the atmosphere. The circumpolar zonal currents are not stable: meanders grow and separate, creating eddies and these eddies are critical to the dynamics of the Southern Ocean, linking the zonal circumpolar and meridional circulations. As a result of this connection, a global three-dimensional ocean circulation exists in which the Southern Ocean plays a central role in regulating the Earth's climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cunningham, Stuart A. |
author_facet |
Cunningham, Stuart A. |
author_sort |
Cunningham, Stuart A. |
title |
Southern Ocean circulation |
title_short |
Southern Ocean circulation |
title_full |
Southern Ocean circulation |
title_fullStr |
Southern Ocean circulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Southern Ocean circulation |
title_sort |
southern ocean circulation |
publisher |
Edinburgh University Press |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 |
geographic |
Antarctic Indian Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Indian Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Archives of Natural History volume 32, issue 2, page 265-280 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 |
op_rights |
https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2005.32.2.265 |
container_title |
Archives of Natural History |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
265 |
op_container_end_page |
280 |
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1766278008590565376 |