Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters
An array of 40 surface drifters, drogued at 15-m depth, was deployed in February 2007 to the east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths and Ecosystems (ADELIE) project. Data obtained from these drifters and from a select number of local...
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American Meteorological Society
2009
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:11318 2023-05-15T13:45:10+02:00 Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters Thompson, Andrew F. Heywood, Karen J. Thorpe, Sally Renner, Angelika H.H. Trasviña, Armando 2009 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11318/ unknown American Meteorological Society Thompson, Andrew F.; Heywood, Karen J.; Thorpe, Sally orcid:0000-0002-5193-6955 Renner, Angelika H.H.; Trasviña, Armando. 2009 Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 39 (1). 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1> Marine Sciences Ecology and Environment Hydrology Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1 2023-02-04T19:27:17Z An array of 40 surface drifters, drogued at 15-m depth, was deployed in February 2007 to the east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths and Ecosystems (ADELIE) project. Data obtained from these drifters and from a select number of local historical drifters provide the most detailed observations to date of the surface circulation in the northwestern Weddell Sea. The Antarctic Slope Front (ASF), characterized by a similar to 20 cm s(-1) current following the 1000-m isobath, is the dominant feature east of the peninsula. The slope front bifurcates when it encounters the South Scotia Ridge with the drifters following one of three paths. Drifters (i) are carried westward into Bransfield Strait; (ii) follow the 1000-m isobath to the east along the southern edge of the South Scotia Ridge; or (iii) become entrained in a large-standing eddy over the South Scotia Ridge. Drifters are strongly steered by contours of f/h (Coriolis frequency/depth) as shown by calculations of the first two moments of displacement in both geographic coordinates and coordinates locally aligned with contours of f/h. An eddy-mean decomposition of the drifter velocities indicates that shear in the mean flow makes the dominant contribution to dispersion in the along-f/h direction, but eddy processes are more important in dispersing particles across contours of f/h. The results of the ADELIE study suggest that the circulation near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula may influence ecosystem dynamics in the Southern Ocean through Antarctic krill transport and the export of nutrients. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Bransfield Strait Weddell South Scotia Ridge ENVELOPE(-46.500,-46.500,-60.000,-60.000) Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 1 3 26 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Marine Sciences Ecology and Environment Hydrology |
spellingShingle |
Marine Sciences Ecology and Environment Hydrology Thompson, Andrew F. Heywood, Karen J. Thorpe, Sally Renner, Angelika H.H. Trasviña, Armando Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
topic_facet |
Marine Sciences Ecology and Environment Hydrology |
description |
An array of 40 surface drifters, drogued at 15-m depth, was deployed in February 2007 to the east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths and Ecosystems (ADELIE) project. Data obtained from these drifters and from a select number of local historical drifters provide the most detailed observations to date of the surface circulation in the northwestern Weddell Sea. The Antarctic Slope Front (ASF), characterized by a similar to 20 cm s(-1) current following the 1000-m isobath, is the dominant feature east of the peninsula. The slope front bifurcates when it encounters the South Scotia Ridge with the drifters following one of three paths. Drifters (i) are carried westward into Bransfield Strait; (ii) follow the 1000-m isobath to the east along the southern edge of the South Scotia Ridge; or (iii) become entrained in a large-standing eddy over the South Scotia Ridge. Drifters are strongly steered by contours of f/h (Coriolis frequency/depth) as shown by calculations of the first two moments of displacement in both geographic coordinates and coordinates locally aligned with contours of f/h. An eddy-mean decomposition of the drifter velocities indicates that shear in the mean flow makes the dominant contribution to dispersion in the along-f/h direction, but eddy processes are more important in dispersing particles across contours of f/h. The results of the ADELIE study suggest that the circulation near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula may influence ecosystem dynamics in the Southern Ocean through Antarctic krill transport and the export of nutrients. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thompson, Andrew F. Heywood, Karen J. Thorpe, Sally Renner, Angelika H.H. Trasviña, Armando |
author_facet |
Thompson, Andrew F. Heywood, Karen J. Thorpe, Sally Renner, Angelika H.H. Trasviña, Armando |
author_sort |
Thompson, Andrew F. |
title |
Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
title_short |
Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
title_full |
Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
title_fullStr |
Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters |
title_sort |
surface circulation at the tip of the antarctic peninsula from drifters |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11318/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-46.500,-46.500,-60.000,-60.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Bransfield Strait Weddell South Scotia Ridge |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Bransfield Strait Weddell South Scotia Ridge |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_relation |
Thompson, Andrew F.; Heywood, Karen J.; Thorpe, Sally orcid:0000-0002-5193-6955 Renner, Angelika H.H.; Trasviña, Armando. 2009 Surface circulation at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from drifters. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 39 (1). 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3995.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
39 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
3 |
op_container_end_page |
26 |
_version_ |
1766214490181861376 |