Shelf/Deep-Ocean Frontal Interaction in the Southwestern Atlantic

南大西洋盆地拥有南大洋最大的叶绿素a水华，其优势可能与从西南大陆架地区抽取的高度肥沃的水域的离岸流动有关。该项目将调查这些大陆架外流在多大程度上受两个不同的西部边界流--巴西流和马尔维纳斯流--与大陆架环流的相互作用所控制。具有亚中尺度分辨率的数值模拟将产生迄今为止对环流的最详细描述。该项目还将通过现场和远程观测的新用途，推动对西南大西洋大陆架环流的描述。该项目的目标是描述西南大西洋区域的大陆架和深海交换。该项目将通过向大陆架的北部和南部注入深海水，并在锋面系统减少大陆架水域的训练，来检验边界流调节这些交换的假设。将确定将大陆架与深海环流连接起来的动力机制。将描述耦合系统的主要可变性模式，并研究这些模式对大陆架和深海之间质量交换的影响。分析将包括一系列数值实验产生的数据，以及现场观测和卫星数据，以建立对模型结果的信心。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The South Atlantic basin hosts the largest chlorophyll-a blooms of the Southern Ocean, dominance likely associated with off-shelf flows of highly fertilized waters drawn from the southwestern continental shelf region. This project will investigate the extent to which these continental shelf outflows are controlled by the interactions of two distinct western boundary currents, the Brazil and Malvinas currents, with the shelf circulation. The numerical simulations with sub-mesoscale permitting resolution will generate the most detailed description of the circulation to date. This project will also advance the characterization of the southwestern Atlantic shelf circulation through the novel use of in situ and remote observations.The goal of this project is to characterize the shelf and deep-ocean exchanges in the southwestern Atlantic region. The project will test the hypothesize that the boundary currents regulate these exchanges by injecting deep ocean waters onto the northern and southern portions of the shelf and detraining shelf waters at the frontal system. The dynamical mechanisms connecting the shelf to the deep-ocean circulation will be identified. The dominant modes of variability of the coupled system will be characterized and the influence of these modes on the mass exchanges between the shelf and the deep ocean will be investigated. The analyses will include data produced by a suite of numerical experiments along with in-situ observations and satellite data to establish confidence in the model results.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.