Renewal of the Drake Passage High Density XBT/XCTD Program

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is a study of the seasonal variability and long-term change of the upper ocean structure of the Drake Passage. It consists of high density sections obtained on each crossing by the U.S. Antarctic Program's research vessel Laurence M. Gould, using expendable bathythermographs, supplemented by expendable conductivity-temperature-depth probes. This information will continue to lead to the establishment of a high quality data base with which to study the magnitude and depth of penetration of the seasonal signals, connections to atmospheric forcing, and the effects of interannual variations such as those associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current links the circulation of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, providing a global pathway for the interocean transfer of heat and salt anomalies. Drake Passage is a convenient narrow choke point for property exchange between the Pacific and the South Atlantic/Indian Ocean system. These sections will supplement the approximately forty sections have been obtained since September 1996. The probes are launched by the scientific shipboard personnel on each cruise. ***