Structure and Temporal Variability of the Northern Branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Drake Passage

Abstract

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays the key role in the circulation of the Southern Ocean and affects the distribution of heat by the ocean on the global scale. The study of the dynamics and structure of this current becomes especially important in a changing climate. The current is well revealed by satellite altimetry data, which makes possible to study temporal and spatial variability of its structure at different scales. In these studies, the methods for determining the position of individual fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current based on satellite altimetry data become especially important. In this work, we compare various approaches for detection of front locations. The structure of the northernmost branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Subantarctic Front, and its spatial and temporal variability was studied based on satellite altimetry data from 1993 to 2020 and the results of a hydrographical section occupied by the R/V “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” in the northern part of the Drake Passage in February 2020. We selected a 350 km long part of the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1,2,3 satellite altimeter track from Tierra del Fuego to the south for the analysis of the dynamics of the front. Criteria for determining the position of the northern and main branches of the Subantarctic Front are presented based on satellite altimetry data. A long-term shift of the position of the fronts relative to the previously accepted levels of absolute dynamic topography has been found. It was found that the accuracy of determining the position of fronts using fixed values of dynamic topography may decrease with time, in particular due to changes in the mean sea level. A statistically significant long-term trend of sea level rise in the region of the Subantarctic Front was found. This trend is 4 mm/yr for the northern branch and 2.5 mm/yr for the main branch.