Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5764887 | Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography | 2017 | 20 Pages |
Abstract
The section along 10°E between 44°S and 53°S showed a classical ACC structure with well-known hydrographic fronts, the Subantarctic Front (SAF) at 46.5°S, the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) split in two, at 49.25°S and 50.5°S, and the Southern Polar Front (SPF) at 52.5°S. Each front was associated with strong eastward flows. The West Mid-Atlantic Ridge Survey showed a weak and poorly resolved meander structure between the APF and the SPF. During the first eight days of the survey the oceanographic conditions at the Central Station at 12°40â²W remained reasonably constant. However after that, conditions became more variable in the thermocline with conspicuous temperature inversions and interleavings and also a decrease in temperature in the surface layer. At the very end of the period of observation the conditions in the thermocline returned to being similar to those observed during the early part of the period with however the mixed layer temperature raised. The period of enhanced thermohaline variability was accompanied by increased currents. The Georgia Basin Survey showed a very strong zonal jet at its northern edge which connects to a large cyclonic meander that itself joins an anticyclonic eddy in the southeastern quadrant. The water mass contrasts in this survey were stronger than in the West Mid-Atlantic Ridge Survey, but similar to those met along 10°E with the exception that the warm and saline surface water typical of the northern side of the SAF was not covered by the Georgia Basin Survey. Mixed layers found during Eddy-Pump were typically deep, but varied between the three survey areas; the mean depths and standard variations of the mixed layer along the 10°E were 77.2±24.7 m, at the West Mid-Atlantic Ridge 66.7±17.7 m, and in the Georgia Basin 36.8±10.7 m.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
Volker H. Strass, Harry Leach, Hartmut Prandke, Matthew Donnelly, Astrid U. Bracher, Dieter A. Wolf-Gladrow,