PL44D:
Transient Eddies, Stationary Meanders, and Southern Ocean Circulation and Tracer Transport I Posters


Session ID#: 27717

Session Description:
The Southern Ocean is both a critical conduit between the three mid-latitude oceans and a complex frontal system separating warm subtropical waters from cold Antarctic waters. Our understanding of the processes underlying the large-scale Southern Ocean meridional circulation and the associated transport of tracers continues to develop rapidly, while fundamental aspects of the zonal circulation, such as Drake Passage volume transport, are also being reconsidered.

Recent studies have highlighted the important role of both stationary meanders that arise from mean flow-topography interactions and transient mesoscale eddies in the Southern Ocean, particularly in the saturation and compensation of the wind-driven circulation and in the transport of mass and tracers across fronts. While bathymetry has long been understood to have a role in regulating zonal transport, an emerging view is that meridional transport and upwelling are primarily localized at hotspots tied to major topographic obstacles. These findings support a new paradigm for the Southern Ocean circulation that takes into account the full three-dimensional complexity of the flow.

In this session we welcome observational and modelling contributions that address transient eddies and stationary meanders, their impact on Southern Ocean circulation and transport, and their response to climate change.

Primary Chair:  Matthew W Hecht, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States
Co-chairs:  Carolina O. Dufour, McGill University, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Montreal, Canada, Alison R Gray, University of Washington, School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, United States and Adele K Morrison, Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia
Moderators:  Alison R Gray, University of Washington, School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, United States, Adele K Morrison, Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia, Carolina O. Dufour, McGill University, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Montreal, Canada and Matthew W Hecht, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Adele K Morrison, Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia
Index Terms:

4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4528 Fronts and jets [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4562 Topographic/bathymetric interactions [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4568 Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • HE - High Latitude Environments
  • PC - Past, Present and Future Climate
  • PS - Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Smaller

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

ACC Meanders, Energy Transfer, and Mixed Barotropic–Baroclinic Instability (Invited) (242477)
Madeleine K Youngs1, Andrew F Thompson2 and Ayah Lazar2, (1)Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, (2)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Interfacial form stress in the Southern Ocean State Estimate and Drake Passage observations (313792)
Jessica Masich, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, Teresa K Chereskin, SIO/UCSD, La Jolla, CA, United States and Matthew R Mazloff, SIO, La Jolla, CA, United States
Eddy Heat and Momentum Fluxes in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Estimated from Observations in Drake Passage (308120)
Manuel Othon Gutierrez-Villanueva1, Teresa K Chereskin2 and Janet Sprintall1, (1)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (2)SIO/UCSD, La Jolla, CA, United States
Recent Satellite, Ship and Autonomous Observations of Southern Ocean Eddies (326407)
Peter G Strutton1, Sebastien Moreau2, Joan Llort3, Ramkrushnbhai Patel2, Alice Della Penna4, Helen Elizabeth Phillips5, Hannah Dawson2 and Peter Gaube6, (1)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (2)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Hobart, Australia, (3)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, Hobart, Australia, (4)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Air-Sea Interaction and Remote Sensing, Seattle, WA, United States, (5)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, IMAS, Hobart, Australia, (6)Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, Air-Sea Interaction and Remote Sensing, Seattle, WA, United States

See more of: Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Larger