Zonal intermediate currents in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean
| Type | Article | ||||||||
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| Date | 2006-03 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | Ollitrault Michel1, Lankhorst Matthias2, Fratantoni David3, Richardson Philip3, Zenk Walter2 | ||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : IFREMER, Ctr Brest, F-29280 Plouzane, France. 2 : Leibniz Inst Meereswissensch, GEOMAR, D-24105 Kiel, Germany. 3 : Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA. |
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| Source | Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (American Geophysical Union), 2006-03 , Vol. 33 | ||||||||
| DOI | 10.1029/2005GL025368 | ||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 40 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Seasonal fluctuations, Float data, Zonal current, Antarctic intermediate Water, Equatorial Atlantic ocean | ||||||||
| Abstract | Acoustic float data collected near 800 m depth, are used to map zonal mean currents within the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) tongue in the equatorial Atlantic. Alternating zonal jets of 2° latitudinal width are revealed between 6°S and 6°N. Displacements from profiling floats drifting near 1000 m depth, also reveal similar zonal jets at the base of the AAIW layer. The strongest jets (15 cm s−1 peak) are found at 4°S, 2°S, 0°, 2°N and 4°N. They are coherent longitudinally over order of 3000 km and, poleward of 1°S and 1°N, generally coherent vertically between 800 m and 1000 m. Large seasonal fluctuations exist at both levels: within 1° of equator, AAIW at 800 m flows westward (8 cm s−1 mean) in boreal summer and fall but eastward (3 cm s−1 mean) in winter, whereas the flow at 1000 m is eastward in late fall and winter. | ||||||||
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