The Azores Countercurrent
New light is shed on Worthington's concept of the North Atlantic circulation, postulating the existence of two anticyclonic gyres. This concept, which seems to have been laid to rest in the last decade, has now been reinforced by the results of a simple linear Sverdrup circulation model yieldin...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
AMS (American Meteorological Society)
1993
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/1/1520-0485%281993%29023_1638_tac_2.0.co%3B2.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 |
id |
ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:42387 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:42387 2023-05-15T17:27:49+02:00 The Azores Countercurrent Onken, Reiner 1993 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/1/1520-0485%281993%29023_1638_tac_2.0.co%3B2.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 en eng AMS (American Meteorological Society) https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/1/1520-0485%281993%29023_1638_tac_2.0.co%3B2.pdf Onken, R. (1993) The Azores Countercurrent. Open Access Journal of Physical Oceanography, 23 (8). pp. 1638-1646. DOI 10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 <https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485%281993%29023%3C1638%3ATAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2>. doi:10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 1993 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 2023-04-07T15:39:01Z New light is shed on Worthington's concept of the North Atlantic circulation, postulating the existence of two anticyclonic gyres. This concept, which seems to have been laid to rest in the last decade, has now been reinforced by the results of a simple linear Sverdrup circulation model yielding a band of westward transport all across the North Atlantic at about the Azores latitude. This narrow band is called the Azores Countercurrent (AzCC) and matches the position of westward flow required by Worthington's “northern gyre.” An anomaly in the meridional change of the wind-stress curl in the eastern North Atlantic has been identified as the driving mechanism. A comparison with observations shows that the AzCC is verified in many analyses of historical datasets and synoptic surveys. A lack of the AzCC in other analyses is probably due to missing meridional sections, strong smoothing, and the superimposed Ekman flow close to the sea surface directed to the southeast. The AzCC has not been verified in low-resolution general circulation models applying simplified wind-stress fields and large friction coefficients, but there is evidence for its existence in recent high-resolution models driven by realistic wind stresses. Based on these findings, a new pattern for the wind-driven upper ocean circulation of the midlatitude North Atlantic is presented. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Curl ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
New light is shed on Worthington's concept of the North Atlantic circulation, postulating the existence of two anticyclonic gyres. This concept, which seems to have been laid to rest in the last decade, has now been reinforced by the results of a simple linear Sverdrup circulation model yielding a band of westward transport all across the North Atlantic at about the Azores latitude. This narrow band is called the Azores Countercurrent (AzCC) and matches the position of westward flow required by Worthington's “northern gyre.” An anomaly in the meridional change of the wind-stress curl in the eastern North Atlantic has been identified as the driving mechanism. A comparison with observations shows that the AzCC is verified in many analyses of historical datasets and synoptic surveys. A lack of the AzCC in other analyses is probably due to missing meridional sections, strong smoothing, and the superimposed Ekman flow close to the sea surface directed to the southeast. The AzCC has not been verified in low-resolution general circulation models applying simplified wind-stress fields and large friction coefficients, but there is evidence for its existence in recent high-resolution models driven by realistic wind stresses. Based on these findings, a new pattern for the wind-driven upper ocean circulation of the midlatitude North Atlantic is presented. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Onken, Reiner |
spellingShingle |
Onken, Reiner The Azores Countercurrent |
author_facet |
Onken, Reiner |
author_sort |
Onken, Reiner |
title |
The Azores Countercurrent |
title_short |
The Azores Countercurrent |
title_full |
The Azores Countercurrent |
title_fullStr |
The Azores Countercurrent |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Azores Countercurrent |
title_sort |
azores countercurrent |
publisher |
AMS (American Meteorological Society) |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/1/1520-0485%281993%29023_1638_tac_2.0.co%3B2.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) |
geographic |
Curl |
geographic_facet |
Curl |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42387/1/1520-0485%281993%29023_1638_tac_2.0.co%3B2.pdf Onken, R. (1993) The Azores Countercurrent. Open Access Journal of Physical Oceanography, 23 (8). pp. 1638-1646. DOI 10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 <https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485%281993%29023%3C1638%3ATAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2>. doi:10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1993)023<1638:TAC>2.0.CO;2 |
_version_ |
1766120107707203584 |