McCarthy, Gerard and King, B.A. and Cipollini, P. and McDonagh, E.L. and Blundell, J.R. and Biastoch, Arne (2012) On the sub‐decadal variability of South Atlantic Antarctic Intermediate Water. Geophysical Research Letters, 39 (10). L10605. ISSN 0094-8276

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Abstract

[1] Variability of Antarctic Intermediate Water salinity in the South Atlantic is investigated on interannual and intradecadal timescales. Novel observations of slow, westward propagating salinity anomalies in Argo data are presented. The features have no corresponding signal in temperature and are anomalous in density. Analysis of 40 years of model output supports the existence of these westward propagating salinity anomalies and indicates that they are typical occurrences in time. The features are intensified in a latitude band around 30°S associated with the propagation of Agulhas rings. However, the features are much larger than Agulhas rings and occur on decadal timescales in the model. They propagate westward with speeds of 2.3 cm/s in observations, and 1.7 cm/s in model data. They are more consistent with planetary waves than with the advection of large‐scale salinity anomalies. The observation of these features has implications for the interpretation of salinity anomalies, such as the linking of hydrological cycle changes to salinity changes.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Antarctic Intermediate Water; Argo; South Atlantic; propagating features; salinity;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	12196
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051270
Depositing User:	Gerard McCarthy
Date Deposited:	22 Jan 2020 15:46
Journal or Publication Title:	Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher:	American Geophysical Union
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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