Greatbatch, Richard John , Brandt, Peter , Claus, Martin , Didwischus, Sven-Helge and Fu, Yao (2012) On the width of the equatorial deep jets. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 42 . pp. 1729-1740. DOI 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0238.1.

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Abstract

The equatorial deep jets (EDJ) are a striking feature of the equatorial ocean circulation. In the Atlantic Ocean, the EDJ are associated with a vertical scale of between 300 and 700 m, a time scale of roughly 4.5 years and upward energy propagation to the surface. It has been found that the meridional width of the EDJ is roughly 1.5 times larger than expected based on their vertical scale. Here we use a shallow water model for a high order baroclinic vertical normal mode to argue that mixing of momentum along isopycnals can explain the enhanced width. A lateral eddy viscosity of 300 m2 s−1 10 is found to be sufficient to account for the width implied by observations.

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