Four Current Meter Models Compared in Strong Currents in Drake Passage

Tectonic reconstructions for paleobathymetry in Drake Passage

Geostrophic transport through the drake passage.

Geostrophic velocity and transport of water in the Drake Passage relative to a newly defined zero reference layer indicate that the circumpolar current is basically north of 59 degrees S, with its axis north 57 degrees S, and that the total volume transport exceeds 200 x 10(6) cubic meters per second. The calculated geostrophic velocities are consistent with results of descriptive water-structu...

Spatial Variation in Turbulent Heat Fluxes in Drake Passage

High-resolution underway shipboard atmospheric and oceanic observations collected in Drake Passage from 2000 to 2009 are used to examine the spatial scales of turbulent heat fluxes and flux-related state variables. The magnitude of the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) south of the Polar Front is found to be twice that north of the front, but the seasonal cycles of the turbulent h...

Seasonal variability of upper ocean heat content in Drake Passage

[1] Mixed-layer depth (MLD) is often used in a mixed-layer heat budget to relate air-sea exchange to changes in the near-surface ocean temperature. In this study, reanalysis heat flux products and profiles from a 15 year time series of high-resolution, near-repeat expendable bathythermograph/expendable conductivity-temperature-depth (XBT/XCTD) sampling in Drake Passage are used to examine the n...

Drake Passage Oceanic pCO2: Evaluating CMIP5 Coupled Carbon–Climate Models Using in situ Observations

Surface water partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) variations in Drake Passage are examined using decade-long underway shipboardmeasurements. North of the Polar Front (PF), the observed pCO2 shows a seasonal cycle that peaks annually in August and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)–forced variations are significant. Just south of the PF, pCO2 shows a small seasonal cycle that peaks annually in February...