HR: 0800h
AN: OS51A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Connections between Equatorial Pacific and Peruvian current system in a high-resolution numerical model
AU: * Montes, I
EM: ivonnem@udec.cl
AF: Universidad de Concepcion. Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacífico Sur-Oriental, Barrio Universitario S/N. Cabina 5. Casilla postal 160-C. Concepcion - Chile,
AU: Colas, F
EM: francois@atmos.ucla.edu
AF: IGPP, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, United States
AU: Capet, X
EM: capet@atmos.ucla.edu
AF: IGPP, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA, United States
AU: Penven, P
EM: Pierrick.Penven@ird.fr
AF: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le developpement, Paris - France.,
AU: Pasapera, J
EM: jpasapera@imarpe.gob.pe
AF: CIMOBP, Instituto del Mar del Peru, Esquina Gamarra y Gral Valle S/N, Chucuito, Callao, Lima - Peru, Lima,
AU: Tam, J
EM: jtam@imarpe.gob.pe
AF: CIMOBP, Instituto del Mar del Peru, Esquina Gamarra y Gral Valle S/N, Chucuito, Callao, Lima - Peru, Lima,
AU: Schneider, W
EM: wschneid@udec.cl
AF: Universidad de Concepcion. Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacífico Sur-Oriental, Barrio Universitario S/N. Cabina 5. Casilla postal 160-C. Concepcion - Chile,
AB: Historically patterns of the ocean currents in the eastern south tropical Pacific have been deduced from eulerian current measurements or geostrophic flow estimates that lack spatial/temporal resolution to provide a reliable description of true Lagrangian pathways. As a result, limited information exists regarding the connections between equatorial currents and the Peruvian current system. Making use of the Lagrangian submodel developed for ROMS model outputs, we investigate these connections under climatological conditions. Our results show that the model reproduces the two main branches of the eastward zonal flow that are of interest to us. The first branch is the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) located between 1°N and 1°S. The second one is the South Extension of EUC (SEEUC) located between 3 - 4°S. Farther south, another current, called the Southern Subsurface Countercurrent (SSSCC), is also identified and located between 7 and 8°S above 250 m depth. Most importantly, the Lagrangian trajectories suggest that the subsurface poleward currents off Peru (Peru-Chile Undercurrent) are fed not only by the SEEUC but also by the SSSCC, and to a weaker extent by the EUC. With the help of another type of Lagrangian experiments, origins of the upwelled water off the Peruvian shelf are shown to be of direct equatorial sources and of off-shore subsurface recirculation.
DE: 4516 Eastern boundary currents
DE: 4522 ENSO (4922)
DE: 4532 General circulation (1218, 1222)
DE: 4534 Hydrodynamic modeling
DE: 4536 Hydrography and tracers
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly