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Climate and Oceanographic Background

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The Argentina Continental Margin

Abstract

The regional climatic and oceanographic characteristics that regulate the climate-ocean system in the region are explained. The climatic system has different features depending on regional and local forcings, such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the South American Monsoon System, the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies, and the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. The hydrographic structure is dominated by different water-masses of Antarctic and Tropical origin, related to the major circulation system of the Western South Atlantic linked to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The main water-masses constituting the hydrographic structure are the Tropical Water-South Atlantic Central Water, the Antarctic Intermediate Water, the North Atlantic Deep Water and the Antarctic Bottom Water, being most of the Antarctic-sourced water-masses genetically related to the circulation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

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García Chapori, N.L., Laprida, C., Violante, R.A. (2017). Climate and Oceanographic Background. In: The Argentina Continental Margin. SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04196-4_5

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