Collaborative Research: Deep Basin Experiment Synthesis

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

Funds are requested to complete the analysis and synthesis of the Deep Basin Experiment conducted as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). The data include current meter mooring at choke point and fracture zone, neutrally buoyant floats and hydrographic data with tracers and nutrients. It is propose to use a combination of data analysis, inverse methods, and a hierarchy of quasi-analytic and numerical models to produce a dynamically consistent understanding of the deep circulation within the Brazil Basin. Newly discovered features of the deep circulation will be incorporated in the analysis. These include a prominent zonal banding of the deep circulation, an apparent low frequency (order 2 year) sloshing within the basin, numerous small vortices embedded in the larger scale circulation, and plumes of anomalous water extending away from the boundary into the basin interior.