2014
DOI: 10.1175/jpo-d-13-0147.1
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Seasonal Variation of the South Equatorial Current Bifurcation off Madagascar

Abstract: In this paper, seasonal variation of the South Equatorial Current (SEC) bifurcation off the Madagascar coast in the upper south Indian Ocean (SIO) is investigated based on a new climatology derived from the World Ocean Database and 19-year satellite altimeter observations. The mean bifurcation integrated over the upper thermocline is around 188S and reaches the southernmost position in June/July and the northernmost position in November/December, with a north-south amplitude of about 18. It is demonstrated tha… Show more

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Cited by 27 publications
(41 citation statements)
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References 43 publications
(51 reference statements)
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“…Farther west, the southern SEC core bifurcates toward the east coast of Madagascar into two branches: the poleward EMC and the equatorward North Madagascar Current (NMC, also known as the Northeast Madagascar Current), which in turn joins the northern SEC core near the northern tip of the island Swallow et al 1988;Chapman et al 2003;Siedler et al 2006). According to Chen et al (2014), the bifurcation of the southern SEC core, integrated over the upper thermocline depth, occurs on average at 188S, varying throughout a year by about 18, with its northernmost and southernmost positions found in November-December and June-July, respectively. Downstream, the EMC seems to break up into a series of nearly symmetric dipolar vortex pairs off the southern tip of Madagascar.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Farther west, the southern SEC core bifurcates toward the east coast of Madagascar into two branches: the poleward EMC and the equatorward North Madagascar Current (NMC, also known as the Northeast Madagascar Current), which in turn joins the northern SEC core near the northern tip of the island Swallow et al 1988;Chapman et al 2003;Siedler et al 2006). According to Chen et al (2014), the bifurcation of the southern SEC core, integrated over the upper thermocline depth, occurs on average at 188S, varying throughout a year by about 18, with its northernmost and southernmost positions found in November-December and June-July, respectively. Downstream, the EMC seems to break up into a series of nearly symmetric dipolar vortex pairs off the southern tip of Madagascar.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Since the mean meridional velocity is small from 19°S to 17°S because of its proximity to the mean SBL, the western boundary layer is defined from the Madagascar coast to 51°E in this latitude band and the western boundary layer is smoothly connected in 20°S–19°S and 17°S–16°S. Although many previous studies [e.g., Qiu and Lukas , ; Chen et al ., ] defined the bifurcation latitude by the latitude at which the meridional velocity averaged from the coast to 2° offshore is zero, we use a different definition because the thickness of the western boundary layer in reanalysis data sets depends on horizontal resolution and a viscosity coefficient.…”
Section: Seasonal and Interannual Variations Of The Sbl Nemc And Semcmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This seasonal variation is in agreement with Chen et al . [], both in terms of phase and amplitude. The SBL also undergoes interannual variations with the amplitude of about 2° (Figure c), which is comparable to that of the seasonal variation (Figure b).…”
Section: Seasonal and Interannual Variations Of The Sbl Nemc And Semcmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Other water that flows to the south along the east coast of Madagascar becomes the East Madagascar Current that turns westward and flows toward the Agulhas Current or curves back to the east (Lutjeharms et al, 1981;Lutjeharms, 1988;Swallow et al, 1988;Donohue and Toole, 2003;Nauw et al, 2008;Siedler et al, 2009). The latitude of bifurcation of the SEC as it reaches Madagascar is at about 18°S, with seasonal north-south variations of about 1° (Chen et al, 2014). Phytoplankton blooms have been documented near southern Madagascar including in offshore areas (Longhurst, 2001;Uz, 2007;Raj et al, 2010).…”
Section: Geographic and Oceanographic Features Of The Study Areamentioning
confidence: 99%