Extreme transport velocities of Antarctic Bottom Water flow through the deep Vema Channel

Abstract

In April 2017 and in October 2018, a Russian expedition on the R/V “Akademik Sergey Vavilov” in the South-West Atlantic carried out measurements of temperature, salinity, and velocity over a standard section across the deep Vema Channel at 31(градус) 12(минут) S. Extremely high and extremely low velocities and transports of Atlantic Bottom Water (AABW) in the entire history of our observations over this section were found. In 2017, the maximum speed over the section reached 55 cm/s, and in 2018, it did not exceed 30 cm/s. In 2018, a core of high velocities in the bottom layers of the channel characteristic of the AABW flow was not found.