TY - JOUR T1 - Zonal intermediate currents in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean A1 - Ollitrault,Michel A1 - Lankhorst,Matthias A1 - Fratantoni,David A1 - Richardson,Philip A1 - Zenk,Walter AD - IFREMER, Ctr Brest, F-29280 Plouzane, France. AD - Leibniz Inst Meereswissensch, GEOMAR, D-24105 Kiel, Germany. AD - Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA. UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1112/ DO - 10.1029/2005GL025368 KW - Seasonal fluctuations KW - Float data KW - Zonal current KW - Antarctic intermediate Water KW - Equatorial Atlantic ocean N2 - 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. Y1 - 2006/03 PB - American Geophysical Union JF - Geophysical Research Letters SN - 0094-8276 VL - 33 ID - 1112 ER -