scholarly journals Connecting flow–topography interactions, vorticity balance, baroclinic instability and transport in the Southern Ocean: the case of an idealized storm track

Ocean Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1207-1223
Author(s):  
Julien Jouanno ◽  
Xavier Capet
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Comprehensive Treatment ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
The World ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The dynamical balance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its implications on the functioning of the world ocean are not fully understood and poorly represented in global circulation models. In this study, the sensitivities of an idealized Southern Ocean (SO) storm track are explored with a set of eddy-rich numerical simulations. The classical partition between barotropic and baroclinic modes is sensitive to current–topography interactions in the mesoscale range 10–100 km, as comparisons between simulations with rough or smooth bathymetry reveal. Configurations with a rough bottom have weak barotropic motions, ubiquitous bottom form stress/pressure torque, no wind-driven gyre in the lee of topographic ridges, less efficient baroclinic turbulence and, thus, larger circumpolar transport rates. The difference in circumpolar transport produced by topographic roughness depends on the strength with which (external) thermohaline forcings by the rest of the world ocean constrain the stratification at the northern edge of the SO. The study highlights the need for a more comprehensive treatment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) interactions with the ocean floor, including realistic fields of bottom form stress and pressure torque. It also sheds some light on the behavior of idealized storm tracks recently modeled: (i) the saturation mechanism, whereby the circumpolar transport does not depend on wind intensity, is a robust and generic attribute of ACC-like circumpolar flows; (ii) the adjustment toward saturation can take place over widely different timescales (from months to years) depending on the possibility (or not) for barotropic Rossby waves to propagate signals of wind change and accelerate/decelerate SO wind-driven gyres. The real SO having both gyres and ACC saturation timescales typical of our “no gyre” simulations may be in an intermediate regime in which mesoscale topography away from major ridges provides partial and localized support for bottom form stress/pressure torque.

scholarly journals Connecting flow-topography interactions, vorticity balance, baroclinic instability and transport in the Southern Ocean: the case of an idealized storm track

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Jouanno ◽  
Xavier Capet
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Comprehensive Treatment ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
Baroclinic Modes

Abstract. The dynamical balance of the Antarctic circumpolar current and their implications on the functioning of the world ocean are not fully understood and poorly represented in global circulation models. In this study, the sensitivities of an idealized Southern Ocean (SO) storm track are explored with a set of eddy-rich numerical simulations. The classical partition between barotropic and baroclinic modes is sensitive to current-topography interactions in the mesoscale range 10–100 km, as comparisons between simulations with rough or smooth bathymetry reveal. Configurations with a rough bottom have weak barotropic motions, no wind-driven gyre in the lee of topographic ridges, less efficient baroclinic turbulence, and thus larger circumpolar transport rates. The difference in circumpolar transport depends on the strength with which (external) thermohaline forcings by the rest of the world ocean constrain the stratification at the northern edge of the SO. The study highlights the need for a comprehensive treatment of the Antartic Circumpolar Current (ACC) interactions with the ocean floor. It also sheds some light on the behavior of idealized storm tracks recently modelled: i) the saturation mechanism, whereby the circumpolar transport does not depend on wind intensity, is a robust and generic attribute of ACC-like circumpolar flows ii) the adjustment toward saturation can take place over widely different time scales (from months to years) depending on the possibility (or not) for barotropic Rossby waves to propagate signals of wind change and accelerate/decelerate SO wind-driven gyres. The real SO with a typical ACC saturation time scale of 2–3 years seems to lie in the “rough bottom/no wind-driven gyre” regime.

scholarly journals Topographic Control of Southern Ocean Gyres and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: A Barotropic Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 3221-3244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Patmore ◽  
Paul R. Holland ◽  
David R. Munday ◽  
Alberto C. Naveira Garabato ◽  
David P. Stevens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Volume Transport ◽  
Topographic Features ◽  
Conservation Of Momentum ◽  
Ridge Width ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Ridge Geometry

AbstractIn the Southern Ocean the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is significantly steered by large topographic features, and subpolar gyres form in their lee. The geometry of topographic features in the Southern Ocean is highly variable, but the influence of this variation on the large-scale flow is poorly understood. Using idealized barotropic simulations of a zonal channel with a meridional ridge, it is found that the ridge geometry is important for determining the net zonal volume transport. A relationship is observed between ridge width and volume transport that is determined by the form stress generated by the ridge. Gyre formation is also highly reliant on the ridge geometry. A steep ridge allows gyres to form within regions of unblocked geostrophic (f/H) contours, with an increase in gyre strength as the ridge width is reduced. These relationships among ridge width, gyre strength, and net zonal volume transport emerge to simultaneously satisfy the conservation of momentum and vorticity.

scholarly journals Multiple Jets of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current South of Australia*

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1394-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serguei Sokolov ◽  
Stephen R. Rintoul
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Nonlinear Fitting ◽  
Fitting Procedure ◽  
Multiple Jets ◽  
Gradient Fields ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract Maps of the gradient of sea surface height (SSH) and sea surface temperature (SST) reveal that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) consists of multiple jets or frontal filaments. The braided and patchy nature of the gradient fields seems at odds with the traditional view, derived from hydrographic sections, that the ACC is made up of three continuous circumpolar fronts. By applying a nonlinear fitting procedure to 638 weekly maps of SSH gradient (∇SSH), it is shown that the distribution of maxima in ∇SSH (i.e., fronts) is strongly peaked at particular values of absolute SSH (i.e., streamlines). The association between the jets and particular streamlines persists despite strong topographic and eddy–mean flow interactions, which cause the jets to merge, diverge, and fluctuate in intensity along their path. The SSH values corresponding to each frontal branch are nearly constant over the sector of the Southern Ocean between 100°E and 180°. The front positions inferred from SSH agree closely with positions inferred from hydrographic sections using traditional water mass criteria. Recognition of the multiple branches of the Southern Ocean fronts helps to reconcile differences between front locations determined by previous studies. Weekly maps of SSH are used to characterize the structure and variability of the ACC fronts and filaments. The path, width, and intensity of the frontal branches are influenced strongly by the bathymetry. The “meander envelopes” of the fronts are narrow on the northern slope of topographic ridges, where the sloping topography reinforces the β effect, and broader over abyssal plains.

scholarly journals Time-Mean Flow as the Prevailing Contribution to the Poleward Heat Flux across the Southern Flank of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: A Case Study in the Fawn Trough, Kerguelen Plateau

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Sekma ◽  
Y.-H. Park ◽  
F. Vivier
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Kerguelen Plateau ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Southern Flank

Abstract The major mechanisms of the oceanic poleward heat flux in the Southern Ocean are still in debate. The long-standing belief stipulates that the poleward heat flux across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is mainly due to mesoscale transient eddies and the cross-stream heat flux by time-mean flow is insignificant. This belief has recently been challenged by several numerical modeling studies, which stress the importance of mean flow for the meridional heat flux in the Southern Ocean. Here, this study analyzes moored current meter data obtained recently in the Fawn Trough, Kerguelen Plateau, to estimate the cross-stream heat flux caused by the time-mean flow and transient eddies. It is shown that the poleward eddy heat flux in this southern part of the ACC is negligible, while that from the mean flow is overwhelming by two orders of magnitude. This is due to the unusual anticlockwise turning of currents with decreasing depth, which is associated with significant bottom upwelling engendered by strong bottom currents flowing over the sloping topography of the trough. The circumpolar implications of these local observations are discussed in terms of the depth-integrated linear vorticity budget, which suggests that the six topographic features along the southern flank of the ACC equivalent to the Fawn Trough case would yield sufficient poleward heat flux to balance the oceanic heat loss in the subpolar region. As eddy activity on the southern flank of the ACC is too weak to transport sufficient heat poleward, the nonequivalent barotropic structure of the mean flow in several topographically constricted passages should accomplish the required task.

scholarly journals Estimates of Eddy Heat Flux Crossing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from Observations in Drake Passage

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 2103-2122 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Randolph Watts ◽  
Karen L. Tracey ◽  
Kathleen A. Donohue ◽  
Teresa K. Chereskin
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Transport ◽  
Antarctic Circumpolar Current ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
Drake Passage ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Poleward Heat Transport ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe 4-yr measurements by current- and pressure-recording inverted echo sounders in Drake Passage produced statistically stable eddy heat flux estimates. Horizontal currents in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) turn with depth when a depth-independent geostrophic current crosses the upper baroclinic zone. The dynamically important divergent component of eddy heat flux is calculated. Whereas full eddy heat fluxes differ greatly in magnitude and direction at neighboring locations within the local dynamics array (LDA), the divergent eddy heat fluxes are poleward almost everywhere. Case studies illustrate baroclinic instability events that cause meanders to grow rapidly. In the southern passage, where eddy variability is weak, heat fluxes are weak and not statistically significant. Vertical profiles of heat flux are surface intensified with ~50% above 1000 m and uniformly distributed with depth below. Summing poleward transient eddy heat transport across the LDA of −0.010 ± 0.005 PW with the stationary meander contribution of −0.004 ± 0.001 PW yields −0.013 ± 0.005 PW. A comparison metric, −0.4 PW, represents the total oceanic heat loss to the atmosphere south of 60°S. Summed along the circumpolar ACC path, if the LDA heat flux occurred at six “hot spots” spanning similar or longer path segments, this could account for 20%–70% of the metric, that is, up to −0.28 PW. The balance of ocean poleward heat transport along the remaining ACC path should come from weak eddy heat fluxes plus mean cross-front temperature transports. Alternatively, the metric −0.4 PW, having large uncertainty, may be high.

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