Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?

Allison, L. C., Johnson, H. L., Marshall, D. P. and Munday, D. R. (2010) Where do winds drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? Geophysical Research Letters, 37. L12605. ISSN 0094-8276 doi: 10.1029/2010GL043355

Abstract/Summary

The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is believed to depend on the westerly wind stress blowing over the Southern Ocean, although the exact relationship between winds and circumpolar transport is yet to be determined. Here we show, based on theoretical arguments and a hierarchy of numerical modeling experiments, that the global pycnocline depth and the baroclinic ACC transport are set by an integral measure of the wind stress over the path of the ACC, taking into account its northward deflection. Our results assume that the mesoscale eddy diffusivity is independent of the mean flow; while the relationship between wind stress and ACC transport will be more complicated in an eddy-saturated regime, our conclusion that the ACC is driven by winds over the circumpolar streamlines is likely to be robust.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/5803
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS
Uncontrolled Keywords	Antarctic Circumpolar Current;wind stress;pycnocline; Oceanography: Physical: Currents; General circulation Arctic and Antarctic oceanography
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
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