Antarctic Bottom Water Flow through the Hunter Channel.

Zenk, Walter, Siedler, Gerold, Lenz, Bernd and Hogg, N.G. (1999) Antarctic Bottom Water Flow through the Hunter Channel. Open Access Journal of Physical Oceanography, 29 (11). pp. 2785-2801. DOI 10.1175/1520-0485(1999)029<2785:ABWFTT>2.0.CO;2.

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Abstract

The Rio Grande Rise acts as a natural barrier for the equatorward flow of Antarctic Bottom Water in the subtropical South Atlantic. In addition to the Vema Channel, the Hunter Channel cuts through this obstacle and offers a separate route for bottom-water import into the southern Brazil Basin. On the occasion of the Deep Basin Experiment, a component of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the expected deep flow through the Hunter Channel was directly observed for the first time by an array of moored current meters and thermistor chains from December 1992 to May 1994. Main results are (i) the Hunter Channel is, in fact, a conduit for bottom-water flow into the Brazil Basin. Our new mean transport from moored current meters [2.92 (±1.24) × 106 m3 s−1] is significantly higher than earlier estimates that were based on geostrophic calculations. (ii) During the WOCE observational period a tendency toward increased bottom-water temperatures was observed. This observation from the Hunter Channel is consistent with findings from the Vema Channel. (iii) The overflow through the Hunter Channel is highly variable and puts in perspective earlier synoptic geostrophic transport estimates

Document Type: Article
Keywords: ATLANTIC OCEAN; SOUTH-ATLANTIC; FRACTURE-ZONE; BRAZIL BASIN; CIRCULATION
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB1 Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics > FB1-PO Physical Oceanography
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: AMS (American Meteorological Society)
Date Deposited: 18 Feb 2008 17:24
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2020 09:50
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/3238

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