Mesoscale eddies in the Subantarctic Front - Southwest Atlantic

• Published in: Scientia Marina
• Main Authors: Glorioso, P., Piola, A., Leben, R.
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Antarctic; Lent; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1834/17131; https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2005.69s27

Satellite and ship observations in the southern southwest Atlantic (SSWA) reveal an intense eddy field and highlight the potential for using continuous real-time satellite altimetry to detect and monitor mesoscale phenomena with a view to understanding the regional circulation. The examples presented suggest that mesoscale eddies are a dominant fea- ture of the circulation and play a fundamental role in the transport of properties along and across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). The main ocean current in the SSWA, the Falkland-Malvinas Current (FMC), exhibits numerous embedded eddies south of 50S which may contribute to the patchiness, transport and mixing of passive scalars by this strong, turbu- lent current. Large eddies associated with meanders are observed in the ACC fronts, some of them remaining stationary for long periods. Two particular cases are examined using a satellite altimeter in combination with in situ observations, sug- gesting that cross-frontal eddy transport and strong meandering occur where the ACC flow intensifies along the sub-Antarc- tic Front (SAF) and the Southern ACC Front (SACCF). Published