Type |
Article |
Date |
2009-02 |
Language |
English |
Author(s) |
Spadone Aurelie1, Provost Christine1 |
Affiliation(s) |
1 : Univ Paris 06, CNRS, IRD, LOCEAN,MNHN,UMR7159, F-75252 Paris 05, France. |
Source |
Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2009-02 , Vol. 114 , N. C02002 , P. 21p.- |
DOI |
10.1029/2008JC004882 |
WOS© Times Cited |
35 |
Keyword(s) |
Malvinas Current, transport, interannual variations |
Abstract |
We present a set of new current meter measurements collected to monitor the Malvinas Current ( MC) near its merger with the Brazil Current at 40-41 degrees S from December 2001 to February 2003 below a Jason-1 altimeter track. These measurements are compared to former measurements obtained 8 years earlier at the same location; they also provide new information on the core of the MC on the continental slope above the 1000-m isobath where a mooring had been previously lost. There, most of the velocity variation is along-isobath (80% of the variance) and shows a significant annual cycle. The two data sets provide coherent means and statistical parameters on the vertical structure of the flow. A 14-year-long time series of MC volume transport is derived using satellite altimetry. The good correlation between the altimetry-derived transport and the transport estimated from the current meter data persists in time (over 0.7 for each measurement period). A spectacular shift in the spectral composition of transport variations was observed: from 1992 until the end of 1997 transport variations occurred at rather short periods (50-90 days and to some degree around 180 days) whereas, after year 2000, longer periods including a seasonal cycle predominated. Altimetry-derived anomalies of surface geostrophic velocities along the core of the MC show a similar shift in spectral composition suggesting a remote-forcing origin. |
Full Text |
File |
Pages |
Size |
Access |
Publisher's official version |
21 |
1 MB |
Open access |
Tab‐delimited Table 1. |
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1010 bytes |
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Tab‐delimited Table 2. |
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642 bytes |
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