Internal Waves Along the Malvinas Current: Evidence of Transcritical Generation in Satellite Imagery

The Effect of a Variable Background Density Stratification and Current on Oceanic Internal Solitary Waves

“…The water depth ranges from 200 m to 700 m. However, the depth of the background current data we can obtain is only from 100 m to 450 m, so we limit the depth to that range. The order of magnitude of the velocity of MC is 1 m s −1 and can be almost up to 0.8 m s −1 in the in situ observational data (Magalhaes and da Silva [17]), but here from the climatological data, the N-S velocity component of the current is only 0.1-0.25 m s −1 . However, nevertheless, this signal is much stronger than the above three cases.…”

“…Internal waves propagating in the opposite direction along the very strong Malvinas Current (MC) in the southwest Atlantic Ocean have been observed (see Magalhaes and da Silva [17]). Our study region here is from shallow to deep along the transect 59.5 W which is near the shelf break and continental slope between 42.17 S and 43.5 S. Note that here the transect is in the N-S direction, so the x-direction is now also oriented N-S.…”

The upper layer of the Malvinas/Falkland current: Structure, and transport near 46\hbox {$^\circ $}S in January 2020

“…The M/FC volume transport has been estimated using different methods; the transport varied in a wide range [Maamaatuaiahutapu et al, 1998;Piola et al, 2013]. The transport estimates near the study site (42-46 ∘ S) using the geostrophic method vary from 3.4 Sv [Remeslo et al, 2004] to 88 Sv [Peterson, 1992].…”

“…The transport estimates near the study site (42-46 ∘ S) using the geostrophic method vary from 3.4 Sv [Remeslo et al, 2004] to 88 Sv [Peterson, 1992]. The numerical modeling estimates are also relatively variable: from 54 to 70 Sv [Fetter and Matano, 2008]. Seemingly, such difference in volume transport estimates is not only the result of using different methods for the layers of different thickness.…”

“…The confluence of the M/FC cold and relatively fresh waters from the northern part of the Drake Passage and the warm salty waters of the Brazil Current leads to the formation a highly energetic Brazil/Malvinas Confluence (BMC) region near 38 ∘ S. This zone exerts strong influence on the climate of South America and the Southwest Atlantic. The Confluence region is also characterized by high eddy activity which creates conditions for significant modifications of the water masses (Antarctic Intermediate Water, Subantarctic Mode Water, Circumpolar Deep Water, and North Atlantic Deep Water) via mixing process [Jullion et al, 2010].…”