Physics
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010georl..3710602w&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 37, Issue 10, CiteID L10602
Physics
Oceanography: Physical: Topographic/Bathymetric Interactions, Oceanography: General: Arctic And Antarctic Oceanography (9310, 9315), Oceanography: Physical: General Circulation (1218, 1222), Oceanography: Physical: Planetary Waves, Oceanography: Physical: Sea Level: Variations And Mean (1222, 1225, 1641)
Scientific paper
The Australian-Antarctic Basin (AAB) is known for its high levels of intraseasonal variability; sea-surface height variability exceeds background values by factors of 2 over thousands of kilometers. This paper addresses the hypothesis that this variability is caused by trapping of barotropic energy by the basin geometry. Analysis of a multi-year integration of a shallow-water model shows that the variability is dominated by a single, large-scale statistical mode that is highly coherent over the entire AAB. The flow associated with this mode is northwestward along the Southeast Indian Ridge, southward in the Kerguelen Abyssal Plain, and eastward in the southern AAB. The mode is interpreted as an almost-free topographically trapped mode, as it is confined by contours of potential vorticity that almost entirely enclose the AAB. The apex of the Wilkes Abyssal Plain represents the strongest barrier to the modal circulation: here velocities are strongest, making it a key area for dissipation of kinetic energy through bottom friction and eddy viscosity.
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