Currents in the Western Drake Passage according to the observations in January of 2010

Abstract

The Western Drake Passage current system is investigated using the CTD, LADCP, and SADCP data of the cross Drake section carried out in January 2010. A complicated current structure consisting of the six Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) jets as well as the system of slope and abyssal currents was revealed. The most interesting result is the identification of the abyssal quasi-geostrophic spurts in the northern part that probably are generated by abyssal eddy fragments, which are an imperative part of the meandering ACC.