PL53C:
Transient Eddies, Stationary Meanders, and Southern Ocean Circulation and Tracer Transport II


Session ID#: 36769

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:  Carolina O. Dufour, McGill University, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Montreal, Canada, Adele K Morrison, Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Canberra, Australia and Alison R Gray, University of Washington, School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, 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:

Importance of Mesoscale Eddies and Mean Circulation in Ventilation of the Southern Ocean (314287)
Igor V Kamenkovich, RSMAS, Miami, FL, United States, Zulema D Garraffo, IMSG, College Park, MD, United States, Romain Laurent Pennel, LMD/IPSL Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France and Rana A Fine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
Role of Antarctic Circumpolar Current Standing Meanders in the Downstream Evolution of Thermohaline Properties (305738)
D Randolph Watts1, Karen L Tracey2 and Kathleen A Donohue2, (1)University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, United States, (2)Univ Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, United States
The Relative Roles of Transient and Standing Eddy Heat Transports in the Southern Ocean of a High Resolution Global Model (314314)
Matthew W Hecht and Wilbert Weijer, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States

See more of: Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Larger