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Absolute geostrophic currents in global tropical oceans

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Abstract

A set of absolute geostrophic current (AGC) data for the period January 2004 to December 2012 are calculated using the P-vector method based on monthly gridded Argo profiles in the world tropical oceans. The AGCs agree well with altimeter geostrophic currents, Ocean Surface Current Analysis-Real time currents, and moored current-meter measurements at 10-m depth, based on which the classical Sverdrup circulation theory is evaluated. Calculations have shown that errors of wind stress calculation, AGC transport, and depth ranges of vertical integration cannot explain non-Sverdrup transport, which is mainly in the subtropical western ocean basins and equatorial currents near the Equator in each ocean basin (except the North Indian Ocean, where the circulation is dominated by monsoons). The identified non-Sverdrup transport is thereby robust and attributed to the joint effect of baroclinicity and relief of the bottom (JEBAR) and mesoscale eddy nonlinearity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Lina Yang  (杨丽娜) & Dongliang Yuan  (袁东亮)

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lina Yang  (杨丽娜)

  3. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Lina Yang  (杨丽娜) & Dongliang Yuan  (袁东亮)

  4. Qingdao Collaborative Innovation Center of Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Dongliang Yuan  (袁东亮)

Authors
  1. Lina Yang  (杨丽娜)
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  2. Dongliang Yuan  (袁东亮)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dongliang Yuan  (袁东亮).

Additional information

Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2012CB956001), the CMA (No. GYHY201306018), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (No. XDA11010301), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41176019, 41421005, U1406401), and the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) (No. GASI-03-01-01-05)

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Yang, L., Yuan, D. Absolute geostrophic currents in global tropical oceans. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 34, 1383–1393 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-016-5092-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-016-5092-3

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