Q-GCM Project
The interaction of jets and eddies with topography
Fixed moorings and observations obtained from satellite altimetry reveal that strong jet like currents that make up the Antarctic Circumpolar Current can be highly variable in the vicinity of large bathymetric features. Currents are able to shift their positions by many hundreds of kilometres in a very short period of time.
Q-GCM has been used to investigate this model. Idealised simulations of a wind driven current flowing over a simple topographic feature have shown that it is the interaction of the mesoscale eddies with the topography that drive the variability in the current.
Relevant Publications
C. C. CHAPMAN & R. MORROW. (2014) Variability of Southern Ocean Jets near Topography. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44:2, 676-693. [Online copy from JPO]
C. C. CHAPMAN & A. McC. HOGG (2013) Jet Jumping: Low-Frequency Variability in the Southern Ocean. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 43:2, 990–1003. [Online copy from JPO]