Interannual Variability of Antarctic Hydrographic Structure and Frontal Zones along Meridional Sections between Syowa Station and Southern Africa |
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| Authors: | Harold Solomon Kaoru Ushida Takashi Suzuki |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, 3-20-1, Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan;(2) Department of Oceanography, Tokai University, 3-20-1, Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Six years of quasi-meridional crossings of the Antarctic Ocean from Antarctica to southern Africa between 4°W and 16°E longitude are analyzed, with emphasis on temperature and salinity distributions. Data are sparse, but (particularly in the southern part of the sections) adequate to show significant variations in the latitude/depth distributions and T-S characteristics of the principal water masses. In particular, the cross-sectional area occupied by Warm Deep Water (Weddell Deep Water) dropped by about one third in 1968. Positions of major features associated with the Antarctic Divergence varied by up to 5 degrees of latitude. The surface temperature gradient often observed at the Antarctic Divergence appears to be the surface expression of a shallow (possibly seasonal) thermocline which sometimes slopes upward to intersect the sea surface. There is a clear need for more closely spaced and consistently planned data from Antarctic cruises, particularly those on which physical oceanography is an ancillary activity. As a bare minimum, much more closely spaced surface temperature (and if possible also salinity) measurements would be useful. |
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| Keywords: | Antarctic Ocean Southern Ocean ocean variability Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) Warm (Weddell) Deep Water |
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