Submesoscale flows impact Agulhas leakage in ocean simulations - Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Journal Articles Communications Earth & Environment Year : 2021

Submesoscale flows impact Agulhas leakage in ocean simulations

René Schubert
  • Function : Author
  • PersonId : 1138242
Arne Biastoch
  • Function : Author
  • PersonId : 897579

Abstract

Abstract Agulhas leakage, the warm and salty inflow of Indian Ocean water into the Atlantic Ocean, is of importance for the climate-relevant Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. South of Africa, the eastward turning Agulhas Current sheds Agulhas rings, cyclones and filaments of order 100 km that carry the Indian Ocean water into the Cape Basin and further into the Atlantic. Here, we show that the resolution of submesoscale flows of order 10 km in an ocean model leads to 40 % more Agulhas leakage and more realistic Cape Basin water-masses compared to a parallel non-submesoscale resolving simulation. Moreover, we show that submesoscale flows strengthen shear-edge eddies and in consequence lee cyclones at the northern edge of the Agulhas Current, as well as the leakage pathway in the region of the filaments that takes place outside of mesoscale eddies. This indicates that the increase in leakage can be attributed to stronger Agulhas filaments, when submesoscale flows are resolved.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
s43247-021-00271-y.pdf (2.09 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origin Publisher files allowed on an open archive

Dates and versions

hal-03387854 , version 1 (20-10-2021)

Identifiers

Cite

René Schubert, Jonathan Gula, Arne Biastoch. Submesoscale flows impact Agulhas leakage in ocean simulations. Communications Earth & Environment, 2021, 2 (1), pp.Article number: 197. ⟨10.1038/s43247-021-00271-y⟩. ⟨hal-03387854⟩
34 View
67 Download

Altmetric

Share

More