Variability of Antarctic intermediate Water properties in the South Pacific Ocean

[摘要] Argo float time series data are used to study the salinityfield at the depth of the salinity minimum produced by AntarcticIntermediate Water (AAIW). It is found that far from showing the smootherosion of the minimum that would result from diffusive flow, the salinityfield is characterized by features of geostrophic turbulence such as fronts,eddies and intrusions. Comparison of the Argo float observations with theclimatology of the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) reveals significant differencesbetween the two data sets. Some of the differences may have their origin inproblems with the WOA data density in remote regions of the South Pacific,but most are more likely produced by interannual variations of the AAIWsalinity field.

[学科分类] 海洋学与技术