Journal
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Volume 44, Issue 12, Pages 3054-3071Publisher
AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-13-0217.1
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [ANT-0839005, OCE-0961523]
- Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology [PE99271, PE99231]
- Professional Human Resource Training Project of Korea Maritime and Ocean University in the KMOU-KIOST Ocean Science and Technology
- Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion (KIMST) [PO01010] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [0961523] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) fronts, defined as water mass boundaries, have been known to respond to large-scale atmospheric variabilities, especially the Southern Hemisphere annular mode (SAM) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Distinct patterns of localized variability in meridional front displacements during 1992-2011 are derived from the analysis of satellite sea surface height data. Major basin-scale differences are found between the southeast Pacific (150 degrees-90 degrees W) and the southeast Indian (75 degrees-150 degrees E) sectors of the ACC. Frontal positions in the southeast Pacific show large year-to-year meridional fluctuations, attributed mostly to ENSO and in part SAM, and no apparent seasonal cycles or long-term trends. In contrast, summer (winter) frontal locations in the southeast Indian extend farther to the south (north) of their long-term mean distribution. A southward drift of ACC fronts is indicated over the Indian sector during the past two decades. This long-term shift is not directly related to the atmospheric variabilities, but this is most likely in response to changes in large-scale ocean circulation, in particular to the poleward expansion of the Indian subtropical gyre. The existence of these localized, contrasting variability patterns suggests that a circumpolar-averaging analysis could possibly smooth out a local climate signal, with an emphasis on a basin-scale investigation for climate studies in the Southern Ocean.
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