The dynamical balance, transport and circulation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The physical ingredients of the ACC circulation are reviewed. A picture of thecirculation is sketched by means of recent observations of the WOCE decade. Wepresent and discuss the role of forcing functions (wind stress, surfacebuoyancy flux) in the balance of the (quasi)-zonal flow, the meridionalci...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antarctic Science
Main Authors: Olbers, Dirk, Borowski, D., Völker, Christoph, Wolff, J. O.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctic Science
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/10001/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/10001/1/Olb2004a.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102004002251
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.20496
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.20496.d001
Description
Summary:The physical ingredients of the ACC circulation are reviewed. A picture of thecirculation is sketched by means of recent observations of the WOCE decade. Wepresent and discuss the role of forcing functions (wind stress, surfacebuoyancy flux) in the balance of the (quasi)-zonal flow, the meridionalcirculation and their relation to the ACC transport. Emphasis will be on theinterrelation of the zonal momentum balance and the meridional circulation, theimportance of diapycnal mixing and eddy processes. Finally, new model conceptsare described: a model of the ACC transport dependence on wind stress andbuoyancy flux, based on linear wave theory; and a model of the meridionaloverturning of the Southern Ocean, based on zonally averaged dynamics with eddyparameterization.

Similar Items