Circumpolar bottom water in the Scotia Sea and the Drake Passage |
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| Authors: | R Yu Tarakanov |
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| Institution: | 1.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology,Russian Academy of Sciences,Moscow,Russia |
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| Abstract: | The quantitative properties and circulation of the lower layer of circumpolar water in the Scotia Sea with density 28.16 <
γ
n
< 28.26 (potential temperature 0.9° > θ > 0.2°C) are investigated using the original procedure for determination of boundaries
between water masses. The primary objective of this work is data analyses of four Russian sections, which were occupied in
the vicinity of the Shackleton Fracture Zone in 2003, 2005, and 2007. It is shown that the ridges in the Hero and Shackleton
fracture zones essentially constrain overflow of the lower layer of circumpolar water, and thereby, they produce the conditions
to the east of the Shackleton Ridge for transformation (freshening and warming) of this layer reaching the northern side of
the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. These ridges also promote formation of several quasi-permanent and semi-enclosed abyssal
and deep-water eddies adjacent to these ridges. The estimation of overflow of the lower part of the investigated layer with
density 28.23 < γ
n
< 28.26 (0.9° > θ > 0.2°C) through the Shackleton Ridge based on LADCP measurements in 2007 is 0.5 Sv (0.1 Sv) to the east
(west). The upper part of the overflow is estimated as 8.0 (7.9) Sv. Thus, the total transport of the lower layer of circumpolar
water through the ridge is practically zero. It is confirmed by LADCP measurements carried out on the section across the Drake
Passage in 2003. |
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