The intermediate depth circulation of the western South Atlantic

被引:108
作者
Boebel, O
Davis, RE
Ollitrault, M
Peterson, RG
Richardson, PL
Schmid, C
Zenk, W
机构
[1] Univ Cape Town, Dept Oceanog, ZA-7700 Rondebosch, South Africa
[2] Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
[3] IFREMER, Ctr Brest, Lab Phys Oceans, F-29280 Plouzane, France
[4] Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA
[5] NOAA, Atlantic Oceanog & Meteorol Lab, Dept Phys Oceanog, Miami, FL 33149 USA
[6] Univ Kiel, Inst Meereskunde, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
关键词
D O I
10.1029/1999GL002355
中图分类号
P [天文学、地球科学];
学科分类号
07 ;
摘要
The subsurface oceanic circulation is an important part of the Earth climate system. Subsurface currents traditionally are inferred indirectly from distributions of temperature and dissolved substances, occasionally supplemented by current meter measurements. Neutrally-buoyant floats however, now enable us to obtain for the first time directly measured intermediate depth velocity fields over large areas such as the western South Atlantic. Here, our combined data set provides unprecedented observations and quantification of key flow patterns, such as the Subtropical Gyre return flow (12 Sv; 1 Sverdrup = 10(6)m(3)s(-1)), its bifurcation near the Santos Plateau and the resulting continuous narrow and swift northward intermediate western boundary current (4 Sv). This northward flowing water passes through complex equatorial flows and finally enters into the North Atlantic.
引用
收藏
页码:3329 / 3332
页数:4
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