Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns
International audience The waters of the Weddell-Scotia Confluence (WSC) lie above the rugged topography of the South Scotia Ridge in the Southern Ocean. Meridional exchanges across the WSC transfer water and tracers between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the north and the subpolar Wedde...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781/document https://hal.science/hal-01255781/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202015%20-%20Meredith%20-%20Circulation%20retention%20and%20mixing%20of%20waters%20within%20the%20Weddell%25u2010Scotia%20Confluence%20Southern.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010462 |
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ftunivaixmarseil:oai:HAL:hal-01255781v1 2023-12-31T10:00:51+01:00 Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns Meredith, Michael P. Meijers, Andrew Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Brown, Peter J. Abrahamsen, Einar, P. Venables, Hugh J. Jullion, Loïc Messias, M. J. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOC) University of Southampton Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie (MIO) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) University of East Anglia Norwich (UEA) 2015-01-29 https://hal.science/hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781/document https://hal.science/hal-01255781/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202015%20-%20Meredith%20-%20Circulation%20retention%20and%20mixing%20of%20waters%20within%20the%20Weddell%25u2010Scotia%20Confluence%20Southern.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010462 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/2014JC010462 hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781/document https://hal.science/hal-01255781/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202015%20-%20Meredith%20-%20Circulation%20retention%20and%20mixing%20of%20waters%20within%20the%20Weddell%25u2010Scotia%20Confluence%20Southern.pdf doi:10.1002/2014JC010462 http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/licences/copyright/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 2169-9275 EISSN: 2169-9291 Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans https://hal.science/hal-01255781 Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, 2015, ⟨10.1002/2014JC010462⟩ http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2014JC010462 [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2015 ftunivaixmarseil https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010462 2023-12-05T23:38:18Z International audience The waters of the Weddell-Scotia Confluence (WSC) lie above the rugged topography of the South Scotia Ridge in the Southern Ocean. Meridional exchanges across the WSC transfer water and tracers between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the north and the subpolar Weddell Gyre to the south. Here, we examine the role of topographic interactions in mediating these exchanges, and in modifying the waters transferred. A case study is presented using data from a free-drifting, intermediate-depth float, which circulated anticyclonically over Discovery Bank on the South Scotia Ridge for close to 4 years. Dimensional analysis indicates that the local conditions are conducive to the formation of Taylor columns. Contempora- neous ship-derived transient tracer data enable estimation of the rate of isopycnal mixing associated with this column, with values of O(1000 m2/s) obtained. Although necessarily coarse, this is of the same order as the rate of isopycnal mixing induced by transient mesoscale eddies within the ACC. A picture emerges of the Taylor column acting as a slow, steady blender, retaining the waters in the vicinity of the WSC for lengthy periods during which they can be subject to significant modification. A full regional float data set, bathymetric data, and a Southern Ocean state estimate are used to identify other potential sites for Taylor column formation. We find that they are likely to be sufficiently widespread to exert a significant influence on water mass modification and meridional fluxes across the southern edge of the ACC in this sector of the Southern Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean Aix-Marseille Université: HAL Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 1 547 562 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Aix-Marseille Université: HAL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivaixmarseil |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere Meredith, Michael P. Meijers, Andrew Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Brown, Peter J. Abrahamsen, Einar, P. Venables, Hugh J. Jullion, Loïc Messias, M. J. Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
topic_facet |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere |
description |
International audience The waters of the Weddell-Scotia Confluence (WSC) lie above the rugged topography of the South Scotia Ridge in the Southern Ocean. Meridional exchanges across the WSC transfer water and tracers between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the north and the subpolar Weddell Gyre to the south. Here, we examine the role of topographic interactions in mediating these exchanges, and in modifying the waters transferred. A case study is presented using data from a free-drifting, intermediate-depth float, which circulated anticyclonically over Discovery Bank on the South Scotia Ridge for close to 4 years. Dimensional analysis indicates that the local conditions are conducive to the formation of Taylor columns. Contempora- neous ship-derived transient tracer data enable estimation of the rate of isopycnal mixing associated with this column, with values of O(1000 m2/s) obtained. Although necessarily coarse, this is of the same order as the rate of isopycnal mixing induced by transient mesoscale eddies within the ACC. A picture emerges of the Taylor column acting as a slow, steady blender, retaining the waters in the vicinity of the WSC for lengthy periods during which they can be subject to significant modification. A full regional float data set, bathymetric data, and a Southern Ocean state estimate are used to identify other potential sites for Taylor column formation. We find that they are likely to be sufficiently widespread to exert a significant influence on water mass modification and meridional fluxes across the southern edge of the ACC in this sector of the Southern Ocean. |
author2 |
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOC) University of Southampton Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie (MIO) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) University of East Anglia Norwich (UEA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meredith, Michael P. Meijers, Andrew Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Brown, Peter J. Abrahamsen, Einar, P. Venables, Hugh J. Jullion, Loïc Messias, M. J. |
author_facet |
Meredith, Michael P. Meijers, Andrew Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. Brown, Peter J. Abrahamsen, Einar, P. Venables, Hugh J. Jullion, Loïc Messias, M. J. |
author_sort |
Meredith, Michael P. |
title |
Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
title_short |
Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
title_full |
Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
title_fullStr |
Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
title_full_unstemmed |
Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns |
title_sort |
circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the weddell-scotia confluence, southern ocean: the role of stratified taylor columns |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781/document https://hal.science/hal-01255781/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202015%20-%20Meredith%20-%20Circulation%20retention%20and%20mixing%20of%20waters%20within%20the%20Weddell%25u2010Scotia%20Confluence%20Southern.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010462 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 2169-9275 EISSN: 2169-9291 Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans https://hal.science/hal-01255781 Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, 2015, ⟨10.1002/2014JC010462⟩ http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2014JC010462 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/2014JC010462 hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781 https://hal.science/hal-01255781/document https://hal.science/hal-01255781/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202015%20-%20Meredith%20-%20Circulation%20retention%20and%20mixing%20of%20waters%20within%20the%20Weddell%25u2010Scotia%20Confluence%20Southern.pdf doi:10.1002/2014JC010462 |
op_rights |
http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/licences/copyright/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010462 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
120 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
547 |
op_container_end_page |
562 |
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