Mean circulation of the upper layers of the western equatorial Pacific Ocean
Mean circulation of the upper layers of the western equatorial Pacific Ocean
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DOI：
10.1029/93jc02513
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发表时间：
1993-12
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Y. Gouriou;J. Toole
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Y. Gouriou;J. Toole
E and on O.soN at l42°E. No variation in its transport (15.0 x 10 6 m 3 s·l) is found between those longitudes. We fmd indication of the Equatorial Undercurrent at 137°E-0.75°N in the geostrophic field. The northern and southern Subsurface Countercurrents are clearly identified by extrema of eastward velocity at l65°E around 3°N and 3°S (250 dbar). No evidence of a southern Subsurface Countercurrent is found at l42°E. At 137°E the northern Subsurface Countercurrent is not characterized by a local extrema of eastward velocity: the North Equatorial Countercurrent seems to extend from the surface to 400 dbar with a south ward shi ft of its core. Analysis of the seasonal variability at l6s o E indicates that the E~atorial Undercurrent transport increases by a factor 2 between January (10.7 X 10 6 m 3 s-l) and JuIy (21.5 x 10 m 3 s·l) and the Equatorial Interrnediate Current transport is halved (6.3 x 10 6 m 3 s·l in January, 3.5 x 10 6 m 3 s·l in JuIy). In contrast, the transport of the Subsurface Countercurrents does not vary substantially between those two months. The meridional distributions of salinity and potential vorticity show that the axes of the main eastward currents are associated with strong meridional property gradients, not with property extrema. The eastward currents thus represent a barrier to the riorthward extension of the high salinity Tropical Water. Relatively weak meridional gradients of salinity and potential vorticity are observed in the westward directed South Equatorial Current and Equatorial Interrnediate Current.
