Measuring Surface Currents in Drake Passage from Altimetry and Hydrography

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...

Global Comparison of Sea Surface Currents Derived from Drifter and Altimetry Observations

Rick Lumpkin and Gustavo J. Goni (Physical Oceanography Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, Florida), Pedro N. DiNezio (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida) and Nikolai A. Maximenko (International Pacif...

Glacial reduction and millennial-scale variations in Drake Passage throughflow.

The Drake Passage (DP) is the major geographic constriction for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and exerts a strong control on the exchange of physical, chemical, and biological properties between the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean basins. Resolving changes in the flow of circumpolar water masses through this gateway is, therefore, crucial for advancing our understanding of the Sou...

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...