Dotto, TS;
Garabato, AN;
Bacon, S;
Tsamados, M;
Holland, PR;
Hooley, J;
Frajka-Williams, E;
... Meredith, MP; + view all
(2018)
Variability of the Ross Gyre, Southern Ocean: Drivers and Responses Revealed by Satellite Altimetry.
Geophysical Research Letters
, 45
(12)
pp. 6195-6204.
10.1029/2018GL078607.
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Abstract
Year‐round variability in the Ross Gyre (RG), Antarctica, during 2011–2015, is derived using radar altimetry. The RG is characterized by a bounded recirculating component and a westward throughflow to the south. Two modes of variability of the sea surface height and ocean surface stress curl are revealed. The first represents a large‐scale sea surface height change forced by the Antarctic Oscillation. The second represents semiannual variability in gyre area and strength, driven by fluctuations in sea level pressure associated with the Amundsen Sea Low. Variability in the throughflow is also linked to the Amundsen Sea Low. An adequate description of the oceanic circulation is achieved only when sea ice drag is accounted for in the ocean surface stress. The drivers of RG variability elucidated here have significant implications for our understanding of the oceanic forcing of Antarctic Ice Sheet melting and for the downstream propagation of its ocean freshening footprint.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Variability of the Ross Gyre, Southern Ocean: Drivers and Responses Revealed by Satellite Altimetry |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2018GL078607 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078607 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2018. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Southern Ocean circulation, Ross Sea, CryoSat‐2, Amundsen Sea Low, Semiannual Oscillation, Sea ice |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10052466 |
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