The interaction of zonal currents with topography with applications to the

• Main Authors: Southern Ocean, M. S. Mccartney
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: Pacific; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.589.4537; http://www.whoi.edu/science/PO/people/mmccartney/pdfs/McCartney76.pdf

Abstract--An analytical model for the interaction of a broad, eastward baroclinic urrent with shallow topographic features inan unbounded [B-plane ocean is developed and solved for three types of topography: a meridionally oriented ridge as is found in the central South Pacific and South Atlantic sectors of the Southern Ocean, azonally oriented ridge as is found south of Australia nd Africa, and an isolated plateau or seamount. The meridional ridge causes astationary wave pattern similar to that believed to occur in the southeast Pacific Ocean. The zonal ridge causes a current intensification the equatorward side of the ridge crest, with intermittent slowed or reversed flow and a string of stationary warm core eddies on the poleward side. Comparison is made to CALLAHAN'S (1971, JournalofGeophysics Re earch, 76, 5859-5870) observations of the flow along the ridge south of Australia. The isolated seamount forces a Taylor column (warm core anticyclonic eddy) above it, and has a stationary meandering wake downstream, sometimes with embedded dies.