Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths
High resolution hydrographic sections and maps of the gradient of sea surface height (SSH) reveal that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) consists of multiple jets or frontal filaments. Here we use a 15 year time series of SSH observations to determine the circumpolar structure and distribution...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005108 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/34931.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/ |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:10670/1.d6tqgr 2023-05-15T13:33:19+02:00 Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths Sokolov, Serguei Rintoul, Stephen R. 2009-01-01 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005108 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/34931.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/ en eng Amer Geophysical Union doi:10.1029/2008JC005108 10670/1.d6tqgr https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/34931.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/ other Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2009-11 , Vol. 114 , N. C11/C11018 , P. 1-19 geo envir Text https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_18cf/ 2009 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005108 2023-01-22T17:55:52Z High resolution hydrographic sections and maps of the gradient of sea surface height (SSH) reveal that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) consists of multiple jets or frontal filaments. Here we use a 15 year time series of SSH observations to determine the circumpolar structure and distribution of the ACC fronts. The jets are consistently aligned with particular streamlines along the entire circumpolar path, confirming and extending the results of an earlier study restricted to the region south of Australia. The intensity of the fronts (as measured by the cross-front gradient of SSH) varies along the fronts and the individual branches merge and diverge, often in response to interactions with bathymetry. Maps of absolute velocity at 1000 m depth derived from Argo trajectories confirm the existence of multiple current cores throughout the Southern Ocean. High resolution hydrographic sections and profiles of temperature and salinity from Argo floats are used to show that the front locations derived from fitting SSH contours to maps of SSH gradient are consistent with locations inferred from the traditional criteria based on water mass properties, suitably modified to account for multiple frontal branches. Three regions are examined in detail: the Crozet Plateau, the Kerguelen Plateau and the Scotia Sea. These examples show how recognition of the multiple jets of the ACC can help resolve discrepancies between previous studies of ACC fronts. Text Antarc* Antarctic Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Unknown Antarctic Kerguelen Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Geophysical Research 114 C11 |
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geo envir Sokolov, Serguei Rintoul, Stephen R. Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
topic_facet |
geo envir |
description |
High resolution hydrographic sections and maps of the gradient of sea surface height (SSH) reveal that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) consists of multiple jets or frontal filaments. Here we use a 15 year time series of SSH observations to determine the circumpolar structure and distribution of the ACC fronts. The jets are consistently aligned with particular streamlines along the entire circumpolar path, confirming and extending the results of an earlier study restricted to the region south of Australia. The intensity of the fronts (as measured by the cross-front gradient of SSH) varies along the fronts and the individual branches merge and diverge, often in response to interactions with bathymetry. Maps of absolute velocity at 1000 m depth derived from Argo trajectories confirm the existence of multiple current cores throughout the Southern Ocean. High resolution hydrographic sections and profiles of temperature and salinity from Argo floats are used to show that the front locations derived from fitting SSH contours to maps of SSH gradient are consistent with locations inferred from the traditional criteria based on water mass properties, suitably modified to account for multiple frontal branches. Three regions are examined in detail: the Crozet Plateau, the Kerguelen Plateau and the Scotia Sea. These examples show how recognition of the multiple jets of the ACC can help resolve discrepancies between previous studies of ACC fronts. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sokolov, Serguei Rintoul, Stephen R. |
author_facet |
Sokolov, Serguei Rintoul, Stephen R. |
author_sort |
Sokolov, Serguei |
title |
Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
title_short |
Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
title_full |
Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
title_fullStr |
Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
title_full_unstemmed |
Circumpolar structure and distribution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts: 1. Mean circumpolar paths |
title_sort |
circumpolar structure and distribution of the antarctic circumpolar current fronts: 1. mean circumpolar paths |
publisher |
Amer Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005108 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/34931.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Kerguelen Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Kerguelen Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2009-11 , Vol. 114 , N. C11/C11018 , P. 1-19 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2008JC005108 10670/1.d6tqgr https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/34931.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00253/36387/ |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005108 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
114 |
container_issue |
C11 |
_version_ |
1766041339328200704 |