Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-76) The Antarctic Circumpolar Current in Drake Passage comprises four regimes which are characterized by distinct temperature-salinity relationships in the near-surface waters and by different depths of common temperature-salinity characteristics in dee...
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fttexasamuniv:oai:oaktrust.library.tamu.edu:1969.1/Dissertations-103840 2023-07-16T03:52:49+02:00 Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage Whitworth, Thomas Sackett, William M. Perry, W. L. Reed, Robert Spence, Thomas W. 1979 x, 79 leaves : illustrations electronic application/pdf reformatted digital http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/Dissertations-103840 eng eng Texas A&M University. Libraries http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/Dissertations-103840 This thesis was part of a retrospective digitization project authorized by the Texas A&M University Libraries. Copyright remains vested with the author(s). It is the user's responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holder(s) for re-use of the work beyond the provision of Fair Use. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Oceanography Antarctic Ocean Ocean currents Ocean temperature 1979 Dissertation W628 Drake Passage Ocean currents--Antarctic Ocean Ocean temperature--Antarctic Ocean Thesis dissertations text 1979 fttexasamuniv 2023-06-27T22:21:29Z Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-76) The Antarctic Circumpolar Current in Drake Passage comprises four regimes which are characterized by distinct temperature-salinity relationships in the near-surface waters and by different depths of common temperature-salinity characteristics in deeper water. Between the Subantarctic Zone in the northern Passage and the Antarctic Zone father south is a transition region, the Polar Frontal Zone. The southernmost regime is the Continental Zone which is restricted to a narrow band near the southern continental slope. Historical hydrographic data are used to determine the mean positions of the fronts which separate the zones. Expendable bathythermograph data show that the two northern fronts, the Subantarctic Front and the Polar Front, fluctuate about 100 km north and south of their mean positions. No seasonal differences in the mean frontal positions are evident. Baroclinic geostrophic transport calculations relative to 2500 db are made from synoptic hydrographic station pairs which span the Passage. The range of all such transport estimates is large when the positions of fronts relative to the station positions are not considered. .The variability of the estimates is reduced to about 20% of the mean transport when calculations are made for station pairs which encompass the Subantarctic and Continental Zones. The mean summer transport of 78.7 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1 is about 10% higher than the winter mean of 70.6 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1. Transport calculations are also made from the average values of dynamic height and transport function within the Subantarctic Zone and the Continental Zone. The mean summer transport of 80.9 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1 is significantly different from the winter mean of 73.4 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1. The largest flow in summer is between the Subantarctic and Polar Frontal Zones, whereas in winter the flow between the Polar Frontal Zone and the Antarctic Zone is predominant. The lower winter transport is associated with a shallower depth of the isopycnals throughout ... Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Drake Passage Texas A&M University Digital Repository Antarctic The Antarctic Drake Passage Antarctic Ocean |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Texas A&M University Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
fttexasamuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Oceanography Antarctic Ocean Ocean currents Ocean temperature 1979 Dissertation W628 Drake Passage Ocean currents--Antarctic Ocean Ocean temperature--Antarctic Ocean |
spellingShingle |
Oceanography Antarctic Ocean Ocean currents Ocean temperature 1979 Dissertation W628 Drake Passage Ocean currents--Antarctic Ocean Ocean temperature--Antarctic Ocean Whitworth, Thomas Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
topic_facet |
Oceanography Antarctic Ocean Ocean currents Ocean temperature 1979 Dissertation W628 Drake Passage Ocean currents--Antarctic Ocean Ocean temperature--Antarctic Ocean |
description |
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-76) The Antarctic Circumpolar Current in Drake Passage comprises four regimes which are characterized by distinct temperature-salinity relationships in the near-surface waters and by different depths of common temperature-salinity characteristics in deeper water. Between the Subantarctic Zone in the northern Passage and the Antarctic Zone father south is a transition region, the Polar Frontal Zone. The southernmost regime is the Continental Zone which is restricted to a narrow band near the southern continental slope. Historical hydrographic data are used to determine the mean positions of the fronts which separate the zones. Expendable bathythermograph data show that the two northern fronts, the Subantarctic Front and the Polar Front, fluctuate about 100 km north and south of their mean positions. No seasonal differences in the mean frontal positions are evident. Baroclinic geostrophic transport calculations relative to 2500 db are made from synoptic hydrographic station pairs which span the Passage. The range of all such transport estimates is large when the positions of fronts relative to the station positions are not considered. .The variability of the estimates is reduced to about 20% of the mean transport when calculations are made for station pairs which encompass the Subantarctic and Continental Zones. The mean summer transport of 78.7 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1 is about 10% higher than the winter mean of 70.6 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1. Transport calculations are also made from the average values of dynamic height and transport function within the Subantarctic Zone and the Continental Zone. The mean summer transport of 80.9 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1 is significantly different from the winter mean of 73.4 x 10^6 m^3 s^-1. The largest flow in summer is between the Subantarctic and Polar Frontal Zones, whereas in winter the flow between the Polar Frontal Zone and the Antarctic Zone is predominant. The lower winter transport is associated with a shallower depth of the isopycnals throughout ... |
author2 |
Sackett, William M. Perry, W. L. Reed, Robert Spence, Thomas W. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Whitworth, Thomas |
author_facet |
Whitworth, Thomas |
author_sort |
Whitworth, Thomas |
title |
Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
title_short |
Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
title_full |
Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
title_fullStr |
Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
title_full_unstemmed |
Zonation and geostrophic flow in Drake Passage |
title_sort |
zonation and geostrophic flow in drake passage |
publisher |
Texas A&M University. Libraries |
publishDate |
1979 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/Dissertations-103840 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Drake Passage Antarctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Drake Passage Antarctic Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Drake Passage |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Ocean Drake Passage |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/Dissertations-103840 |
op_rights |
This thesis was part of a retrospective digitization project authorized by the Texas A&M University Libraries. Copyright remains vested with the author(s). It is the user's responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holder(s) for re-use of the work beyond the provision of Fair Use. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
_version_ |
1771547308620513280 |