4.6 Article

Variability and mesoscale activity of the Southern Ocean fronts: Identification of a circumpolar coordinate system

Journal

OCEAN MODELLING
Volume 39, Issue 1-2, Pages 79-96

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ocemod.2011.04.010

Keywords

Southern Ocean; Antarctic Circumpolar Current; Fronts identification; Mesoscale activity

Funding

  1. University of Tasmania
  2. CSIRO
  3. Australian Climate Change Science Program
  4. Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC
  5. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) through the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OST/ST)
  6. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
  7. Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (INSU)
  8. Groupe Mission Mercator Coriolis (GMMC)

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Recent studies have highlighted the filamented nature of the jets associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). However, the nature, variability and continuity of the ACC fronts remain a topic of debate, in part because different methods provide different perspectives on this complex current system. The goal of this study is to identify a circumpolar coordinate system or reference frame that accounts for the multiple jets of the ACC and that would be suitable for future studies of cross-front fluxes. A new methodology is developed and tested using simulations from several ocean general circulation models (OGCMs). The method uses subsurface temperature criteria and transport maxima to identify five primary circumpolar fronts. The frontal structure derived using this approach is compared to the sea surface height (SSH) contour approach of Sokolov and Rintoul (2007) and a hybrid of the two methods is proposed. Strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches are summarized. We show that the hybrid approach defines a coordinate system that helps explain the circumpolar structure and variability of the ACC fronts and is relevant for the estimation of cross-front fluxes. Fronts defined in this way show behaviour largely consistent with previous studies, including along-front changes in intensity, splitting and merging of fronts, large meridional displacements and unstable behaviour in the vicinity of large bathymetric features. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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