The Impact of an Antarctic Circumpolar Current Meander on Air-Sea Interaction and Water Subduction

Meanders along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) funnel heat toward Antarctica. The research clarifies how meandering of ocean currents shapes air-sea interaction and the transfer of surface ocean properties into the ocean interior in the ACC south of Australia. Meanders refer to curved patterns in the ACC’s flow. We track specific ACC features and look at what is different inside and outside the meander in a computer model. We find that ocean meanders shape where the Southern Ocean gains and loses heat. These changes in heat exchange shape the mixed layer depth (MLD) in the ocean. The MLD is important for climate, biology productivity, and absorption of heat and carbon by the ocean. Meandering produces stronger vertical motion and increases sinking of water from the surface into the ocean interior, compared to regions where meanders are not present. When the meander flexes and becomes more curved, the vertical motion and atmosphere-ocean exchange become even stronger. The results show that small-scale patterns in ocean flow can have a strong influence on the atmosphere, with implications for climate and ocean circulation. These patterns are not well represented in climate models and our study is a step toward accounting for their absence.

Recomended citation: ‘Vilela‐Silva, F., Bindoff, N. L., Phillips, H.E., Rintoul, S. R., & Nikurashin, M.(2024). "The impact of an AntarcticCircumpolar Current meander on air‐seainteraction and water subduction.&quot Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129, e2023JC020701’ See paper here