Evolution of intrathermocline eddies moving over a submarine hill

Abstract

Anticyclonic and cyclonic mediterranean eddies are formed on continental slopes of the Iberian Peninsula. Cyclonic eddies commonly live for 0.5–1 year at most. Anticyclonic eddies (meddies) live for 4–5 years, on average, but there are eddies of 7–8 years in age drifting at the distance of up to 6000 km from the region of its formation. According to the results of observations, in some regions of the Atlantic Ocean, the meddies are destructed partially or completely after contact with submarine mountains. However, it is impossible to trace evolution of the lens moving over the submarine obstacle by the field data. We studied the modeled influence of variable-height submarine hills on movement of cyclonic and anticyclonic intrathermocline eddies by the contour dynamics method. The evolution of lenses appeared to be quite sensitive to variations in hill height. Cyclonic and anticyclonic lenses interact with the hill in different ways. The data of unique field observations of Mediterranean lenses in the North Atlantic are confirmed by the results of our model experiments. Hence, it is possible to predict basic, similar to real, scenarios of interaction of intrathermocline eddies under conditions of complex bottom relief in the context of the three-layered ocean model.