Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?
The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is believed to depend on the westerly wind stress blowing over the Southern Ocean, although the exact relationship between winds and circumpolar transport is yet to be determined. Here we show, based on theoretical arguments and a hierarchy of...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 |
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ftuloxford:oai:ora.ox.ac.uk:uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 2023-05-15T13:37:40+02:00 Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? Allison, L Johnson, H Marshall, D Munday, D 2016-07-29 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 eng eng doi:10.1029/2010GL043355 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess Journal article 2016 ftuloxford https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 2022-06-28T20:27:09Z The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is believed to depend on the westerly wind stress blowing over the Southern Ocean, although the exact relationship between winds and circumpolar transport is yet to be determined. Here we show, based on theoretical arguments and a hierarchy of numerical modeling experiments, that the global pycnocline depth and the baroclinic ACC transport are set by an integral measure of the wind stress over the path of the ACC, taking into account its northward deflection. Our results assume that the mesoscale eddy diffusivity is independent of the mean flow; while the relationship between wind stress and ACC transport will be more complicated in an eddy-saturated regime, our conclusion that the ACC is driven by winds over the circumpolar streamlines is likely to be robust. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean ORA - Oxford University Research Archive Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Geophysical Research Letters 37 12 n/a n/a |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ORA - Oxford University Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftuloxford |
language |
English |
description |
The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is believed to depend on the westerly wind stress blowing over the Southern Ocean, although the exact relationship between winds and circumpolar transport is yet to be determined. Here we show, based on theoretical arguments and a hierarchy of numerical modeling experiments, that the global pycnocline depth and the baroclinic ACC transport are set by an integral measure of the wind stress over the path of the ACC, taking into account its northward deflection. Our results assume that the mesoscale eddy diffusivity is independent of the mean flow; while the relationship between wind stress and ACC transport will be more complicated in an eddy-saturated regime, our conclusion that the ACC is driven by winds over the circumpolar streamlines is likely to be robust. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Allison, L Johnson, H Marshall, D Munday, D |
spellingShingle |
Allison, L Johnson, H Marshall, D Munday, D Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
author_facet |
Allison, L Johnson, H Marshall, D Munday, D |
author_sort |
Allison, L |
title |
Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
title_short |
Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
title_full |
Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
title_fullStr |
Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? |
title_sort |
where do winds drive the antarctic circumpolar current? |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2010GL043355 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb932581-8d6b-4604-9a4d-0ae9e83fc863 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043355 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
12 |
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n/a |
op_container_end_page |
n/a |
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1766095717855657984 |