Direct measurements of western boundary currents off Brazil between 20°S and 28°S

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Müller, Thomas J., Ikeda, Y., Zangenberg, N., Nonato, L.V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 1998
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; North Atlantic Deep Water; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/3121/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/3121/1/97JC03529.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/97JC03529

Current measurements from three moored arrays on the Brazilian continental slope between 20 degrees S and 28 degrees S are investigated for the existence and strength of western boundary currents from near the surface down to the North Atlantic Deep Water. The Brazil Current is found to deepen southward from 100 m to more than 670 m and to strengthen its volume transport to 16.2 x 10(6) m(3)/s. Antarctic Intermediate Water is transported in a well-developed boundary current southward at 28 degrees S and northward north of Cabo Frio (24 degrees S). This result supports earlier suggestions derived from the analysis of hydrographic data that Antarctic Intermediate Water enters the Brazil Basin from the east and bifurcates as it meets the continental break off Brazil. North Atlantic Deep Water is transported southward in a weakly developed boundary current that leads to lower estimates of volume transport than expected from earlier hydrographic data analysis.