Bottom Water Flows in the Vema Channel
and over the Santos Plateau Based
on the Field and Numerical Experiments
Dmitry I. Frey, Vladimir V. Fomin, Roman Yu. Tarakanov,
Nikolay A. Diansky and Nikolay I. Makarenko
Introduction
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) occupies the bottom layer of oceanic basins of
the whole Atlantic. According to the classical definition by Wüst, the upper
boundary of this water mass is the isotherm of potential temperature θ = 2 °C [21].
This water is formed at a few locations around the Antarctic slope in the
autumn-winter period as a result of cooling and ice formation [17]. In the Atlantic
part of the Southern Ocean, it is formed mainly in the Weddell Sea. When AABW
reaches the ocean floor it propagates to the north flowing from one basin to another.
The final points of its propagation are the East Azores Ridge (37° N) in the
Northeast Atlantic and the deep basin east of the Newfoundland Bank in the
Northwest Atlantic. The water exchange between these deep basins occurs through
the abyssal channels in the bottom topography [15]. The mean velocities of the
northward propagation of AABW are less than 1 cm/s; however, when AABW
flows through the narrow abyssal channels the current strongly accelerates. Direct
measurements of the velocities in these channels make possible calculations of the
transport of the northward AABW spreading, which is important because the flows
D. I. Frey ( ✉ ) ⋅ R. Yu. Tarakanov
Russian Academy of Sciences, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: dima.frey@gmail.com
V. V. Fomin ⋅ N. A. Diansky
Zubov State Oceanographic Institute, Moscow, Russia
N. A. Diansky
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
N. A. Diansky
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Moscow, Russia
N. I. Makarenko
Lavrent’ev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Novosibirsk, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_29
475
and over the Santos Plateau Based
on the Field and Numerical Experiments
Dmitry I. Frey, Vladimir V. Fomin, Roman Yu. Tarakanov,
Nikolay A. Diansky and Nikolay I. Makarenko
Introduction
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) occupies the bottom layer of oceanic basins of
the whole Atlantic. According to the classical definition by Wüst, the upper
boundary of this water mass is the isotherm of potential temperature θ = 2 °C [21].
This water is formed at a few locations around the Antarctic slope in the
autumn-winter period as a result of cooling and ice formation [17]. In the Atlantic
part of the Southern Ocean, it is formed mainly in the Weddell Sea. When AABW
reaches the ocean floor it propagates to the north flowing from one basin to another.
The final points of its propagation are the East Azores Ridge (37° N) in the
Northeast Atlantic and the deep basin east of the Newfoundland Bank in the
Northwest Atlantic. The water exchange between these deep basins occurs through
the abyssal channels in the bottom topography [15]. The mean velocities of the
northward propagation of AABW are less than 1 cm/s; however, when AABW
flows through the narrow abyssal channels the current strongly accelerates. Direct
measurements of the velocities in these channels make possible calculations of the
transport of the northward AABW spreading, which is important because the flows
D. I. Frey ( ✉ ) ⋅ R. Yu. Tarakanov
Russian Academy of Sciences, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: dima.frey@gmail.com
V. V. Fomin ⋅ N. A. Diansky
Zubov State Oceanographic Institute, Moscow, Russia
N. A. Diansky
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
N. A. Diansky
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Moscow, Russia
N. I. Makarenko
Lavrent’ev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Novosibirsk, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_29
475