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Divergent pathways of cyclonic and anti‐cyclonic ocean eddies
Author(s) -
Morrow Rosemary,
Birol Florence,
Griffin David,
Sudre Joël
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl020974
Subject(s) - eddy , anticyclone , geology , boundary current , oceanography , climatology , zonal and meridional , ocean heat content , sea surface height , flux (metallurgy) , ocean current , satellite altimetry , sea surface temperature , meteorology , sea level , geography , turbulence , materials science , metallurgy
Satellite altimetry is used to study the propagation pathways of warm and cold ocean eddies in different ocean basins. We consider eddies that have a life span longer than 3 months, and we present three regional studies: in the southeast Indian, the southeast Atlantic, and the northeast Pacific Oceans. The case studies show that simple theories for vortex propagation on a β‐plane work in regions where energetic eddies propagate though a weak background flow. Under these conditions, anticyclonic/cyclonic eddies propagate westward and equatorward/poleward. This divergence in the eddy pathways implies a net equatorward eddy heat flux, and has implications for the meridional transport of freshwater, carbon, nutrients, etc.