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Antarctic Ocean and Resources Variability pp 57–80Cite as

Upper Ocean Characteristics in Drake Passage and Adjoining Areas of the Southern Ocean, 39°W-95°W

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Summary

A new description is presented of the hydrographic structure of the upper 1000 m in Drake Passage and adjoining Southern Ocean areas between 39° and 95°W. Based on 949 oceanographic stations (mostly summer observations) by various ships between 1927 and 1980, the characteristics show remarkable consistency, enabling us to produce meaningful horizontal distributions of water characteristics and relative geostrophic flow. Frontal positions and distinct water mass zones are easily recognized and mapped at several depths. Isopleths are constricted where the eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) enters the Drake Passage and continues over shallower topography to the east. This forces a northward intensification of streamlines within the passage and a deflection to the north once the lateral constriction is passed. Wavelike patterns are associated with topographic features in the Scotia Sea. The largest gradients of near-surface characteristics are found next to the shelves of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula; but the gradients at deeper levels are largest in the Sub-Antarctic and Polar Fronts of the ACC. Within the Bransfield Strait, local processes form characteristics different from those in the surrounding seas, and their eastward extension may contribute to the Weddell-Scotia Confluence.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Oceanología, Universidad de Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Chile

    H. A. Sievers

  2. Department of Oceanography, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    W. D. Nowlin Jr.

Authors
  1. H. A. Sievers
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  2. W. D. Nowlin Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Seefischerei, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Fischerei, Palmaille 9, 2000, Hamburg 50, Germany

    Dietrich Sahrhage

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sievers, H.A., Nowlin, W.D. (1988). Upper Ocean Characteristics in Drake Passage and Adjoining Areas of the Southern Ocean, 39°W-95°W. In: Sahrhage, D. (eds) Antarctic Ocean and Resources Variability. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73724-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73724-4_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-73726-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-73724-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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