Mesoscale eddies in the Subantarctic Front - Southwest Atlantic
2005
Glorioso, P. | Piola, A. | Leben, R.
Satellite and ship observations in the southern southwest Atlantic (SSWA) reveal an intense eddy field and highlight the potential for using continuous real-time satellite altimetry to detect and monitor mesoscale phenomena with a view to understanding the regional circulation. The examples presented suggest that mesoscale eddies are a dominant fea- ture of the circulation and play a fundamental role in the transport of properties along and across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). The main ocean current in the SSWA, the Falkland-Malvinas Current (FMC), exhibits numerous embedded eddies south of 50S which may contribute to the patchiness, transport and mixing of passive scalars by this strong, turbu- lent current. Large eddies associated with meanders are observed in the ACC fronts, some of them remaining stationary for long periods. Two particular cases are examined using a satellite altimeter in combination with in situ observations, sug- gesting that cross-frontal eddy transport and strong meandering occur where the ACC flow intensifies along the sub-Antarc- tic Front (SAF) and the Southern ACC Front (SACCF).
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