Fronts and surface zonal geostrophic current along 115°E in the southern Indian Ocean

Abstract

Altimeter and in situ data are used to estimate the mean surface zonal geostrophic current in the section along 115 • E in the southern Indian Ocean, and the variation of strong currents in relation to the major fronts is studied. The results show that, in average, the flow in the core of Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) along the section is composed of two parts, one corresponds to the jet of Subantarctic Front (SAF) and the other is the flow in the Polar Front Zone (PFZ), with a westward flow between them. The mean surface zonal geostrophic current corresponding to the SAF is up to 49 cm·s −1 at 46 • S, which is the maximal velocity in the section. The eastward flow in the PFZ has a width of about 4.3 degrees in latitudes. The mean surface zonal geostrophic current corresponding to the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) is located at 59.7 • S with velocity less than 20 cm·s −1 . The location of zonal geostrophic jet corresponding to the SAF is quite stable during the study period. In contrast, the eastward jets in the PFZ exhibit various patterns, i.e., the primary Polar Front (PF1) shows its strong meridional shift and the secondary Polar Front (PF2) does not always coincide with jet. The surface zonal geostrophic current corresponding to SAF has the significant periods of annual, semi-annual and four-month. The geostrophic current of the PFZ also shows significant periods of semi-annual and four-month, but is out of phase with the periods of the SAF, which results in no notable semi-annual and fourmonth periods in the surface zonal geostrophic current in the core of the ACC. In terms of annual cycle, the mean surface zonal geostrophic current in the core of the ACC shows its maximal velocity in June.