The frontal and jet structure south of Africa based on the data of the SR02 section in December of 2009

Abstract

The frontal structure in the region south of Africa is investigated on the basis of CTD and SADCP measurements along the SR02 hydrophysical section carried by the R/V Akademik Ioffe in December of 2009 from the Cape of Good Hope to 57° S at the Prime Meridian. Eleven jets of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) were revealed along the section. These were six jets of the Subantarctic Current (SAC), three jets of the South Polar Current (SPC), and two jets of the Southern Antarctic Current (SthAC). The jet combining the Weddell Front and the Southern Boundary of the ACC was also revealed. All the jets of the SPC based on the data of direct measurements were joined into a single “superjet.” The others were manifested by the local velocity maxima in the surface layer of the ocean. The subtropical water along the section from the Southern Subtropical Front to the Shelf-Slope Front near the African shore was almost completely represented by the Indian Ocean (Agulhas Retroflection) water modified by mixing with the fresher water of the southeastern periphery of the Subtropical Atlantic.