On gyre interactions
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Gulf Stream
Boundary current
Pycnocline
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Abstract. The circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is marked by the complex system of pathways of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These currents change meridionally due to the interaction with nearby water masses. Hydrographic data provide the opportunity to characterize these currents for the whole water column with high-resolution data over the last 30 years. Moreover, inverse methods enable the quantification of absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat, and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity. Generally, no changes can be found among decades for each of the currents in terms of transport or their properties. In the South Atlantic, the circulation describes the subtropical gyre affected by several recirculations. There are nearly 61 Sv entering from the Southern and Indian oceans at 45∘ S. The South Atlantic subtropical gyre exports 17.0 ± 1.2 Sv and around 1 PW northward via the North Brazil Current, as well as −55 Sv southward at 45∘ S into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the North Atlantic, most of the transport is advected northward via the western boundary currents, which reduce their strength as they take part in convection processes in the subpolar North Atlantic, also reflected in the northward progress of mass and heat transport. Deep layers carry waters southward along the western boundary, maintaining similar values of mass and heat transport until the separation into an eastern branch crossing the mid-Atlantic Ridge in the South Atlantic. Abyssal waters originating in the Southern Ocean are distributed along the South Atlantic mainly through its western subbasin, flowing northward up to 24.5∘ N, subjected to an increasing trend in their temperature with time.
Boundary current
Gulf Stream
Antarctic Intermediate Water
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
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Gulf Stream
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Antarctic Intermediate Water
Boundary current
Abyssal zone
Circumpolar deep water
Gulf Stream
Antarctic Bottom Water
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Mode water
Stratification (seeds)
Circumpolar deep water
Gulf Stream
Boundary current
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Abstract. The circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is marked by the complex system of pathways of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These currents change meridionally due to the interaction with nearby water masses. Hydrographic data provide the opportunity to characterize these currents for the whole water column with high-resolution data over the last thirty years. Moreover, inverse methods enable the quantification of absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity. Generally, no changes can be found among decades for each of the currents in terms of transport or their properties. In the South Atlantic, the circulation describes the subtropical gyre affected by several recirculations. There are nearly 61 Sv entering from the Southern and Indian Oceans at 45° S. The South Atlantic subtropical gyre exports northward 17.0 ± 1.2 Sv and around 1 PW via the North Brazil Current and −55 Sv southward at 45° S into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the north Atlantic, most of the transport is advected northward via the western boundary currents, which reduce in strength as they take part in convection processes in the subpolar North Atlantic, reflected also in the northward progress of mass and heat transport. Deep layers carry waters southward along the western boundary, maintaining similar values of mass and heat transport until the separation into an eastern branch crossing the mid-Atlantic ridge in the south Atlantic. Abyssal waters originating in the Southern Ocean distribute along the South Atlantic mainly through its western subbasin, flowing northward up to 24.5° N, subjected to an increasing trend in their temperature with time.
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Antarctic Intermediate Water
Gulf Stream
Temperature salinity diagrams
Circumpolar deep water
Circumpolar star
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Abstract The relative contributions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation upper limb source waters in the South Atlantic (SA) remain largely unresolved. We contribute to a resolution by using observational data to explore water mass pathways feeding into the Benguela Current, considered a major component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation upper limb in the SA. We focus on the pathways from the Pacific Ocean via the Drake Passage (traditionally termed the “cold” water route) and the Indian Ocean via Agulhas Leakage (traditionally termed the “warm” water route). We employ two main observational data sets: (1) surface drifter trajectories from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Drifter Program and (2) the Ocean Surface Current Analysis Real‐time product. Based on our Lagrangian analysis, the majority of particles originating in the Drake Passage remain in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, with a small portion reaching the northern limb of the SA subtropical gyre, and a few infiltrating the Agulhas Current region. The majority of particles released in the Agulhas Current follow the Agulhas Return Current and recirculate in its vicinity. Only a small portion leaks into the SA. Observed pathways reveal strong interactions between the two source waters in the Brazil‐Malvinas Confluence, the SA subtropical gyre, the Benguela Current, and the Agulhas Current region. Results from backward trajectories suggest a sizable contribution of waters from the Drake Passage to the Benguela Current but show disagreement between the two datasets in the magnitude of this contribution.
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During January and February 1989 the recirculation of the subtropical gyre in the eastern North Atlantic was surveyed with a three‐ship experiment. The analysis of hydrographic measurements and velocity data from a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler reveals the synoptic‐scale circulation patterns and water mass distributions in the Canary Basin. The geostrophic transport stream function estimated with a horizontally varying reference level of no motion highlights the major currents in three layers representing the vertical structure of the horizontal circulation. The classical circulation scheme is shown by the stream function in the upper 200 m: the Azores, Canary, and North Equatorial currents. Unlike the deep‐penetrating Azores Current, the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current are restricted to the upper 200 m. Both carry North Atlantic Central Water along the water mass boundary with South Atlantic Central Water. South Atlantic Central Water flows through the passage between the Cape Verde archipelago and Africa via narrow currents into the area north of 14.5°N. At the southern edge of the subtropical gyre we identify an eastward flow of Antarctic Intermediate Water between 700 and 1200 m.
Gulf Stream
Boundary current
Geostrophic current
Antarctic Intermediate Water
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Abstract. The circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is marked by the complex system of pathways of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These currents change meridionally due to the interaction with nearby water masses. Hydrographic data provide the opportunity to characterize these currents for the whole water column with high-resolution data over the last thirty years. Moreover, inverse methods enable the quantification of absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity. Generally, no changes can be found among decades for each of the currents in terms of transport or their properties. In the South Atlantic, the circulation describes the subtropical gyre affected by several recirculations. There are nearly 61 Sv entering from the Southern and Indian Oceans at 45° S. The South Atlantic subtropical gyre exports northward 17.0 ± 1.2 Sv and around 1 PW via the North Brazil Current and −55 Sv southward at 45° S into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the north Atlantic, most of the transport is advected northward via the western boundary currents, which reduce in strength as they take part in convection processes in the subpolar North Atlantic, reflected also in the northward progress of mass and heat transport. Deep layers carry waters southward along the western boundary, maintaining similar values of mass and heat transport until the separation into an eastern branch crossing the mid-Atlantic ridge in the south Atlantic. Abyssal waters originating in the Southern Ocean distribute along the South Atlantic mainly through its western subbasin, flowing northward up to 24.5° N, subjected to an increasing trend in their temperature with time.
Boundary current
Gulf Stream
Antarctic Intermediate Water
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Abyssal zone
Atlantic Equatorial mode
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Argo
Gulf Stream
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
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Mode water
Isopycnal
Tropical Atlantic
Gulf Stream
Mixed layer
Atlantic Equatorial mode
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