THE INFLUENCE OF THE CURRENT SYSTEMS AND LATERAL MIXING UPON ANTARCTIC INTERMEDIATE WATER IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

• Main Author: Martineau, D. P.
• Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1953
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *OCEAN CURRENTS; *WATER MASSES; *ANTARCTIC REGIONS; SOURCES; WATER FLOW; SECONDARY; SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; TRANSITIONS; SURFACE PROPERTIES; LAYERS; COASTAL REGIONS; CURRENT MIXING; ANTARCTIC CONVERGENCE; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; North Atlantic; South Atlantic Ocean
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0019400; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0019400

Previous investigations of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) are summarized. It is concluded that the northern edge of the convergence of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters is the source of the AAIW. Study of the major currents of the southwestern South Atlantic (Circumpolar, Falkland, and Brazilian) indicates that a secondary source of the AAIW may exist along the coast of South America. A Meteor section across the Falkland and Brazilian Currents suggests that the mechanism of formation in the transition zone between them is similar to the one by which the intermediate water of the Laborador Basin is formed. A method similar to the one employed by Iselin for the North Atlantic was used to relate the observed temperature-salinity correlation of AAIW in the central South Atlantic to the surface layer conditions in the regions of its origin. The observed difference was attributed to the effects of lateral mixing as the water mass flows along isopycnic surfaces. An assumed amount of modification was prescribed for the portion of the water mass on each isopycnic surface. Results were verified.