256 / 2024-09-12 20:56:15
Three-Dimensional Climatological Structures of the Arabian Sea Eddies and Eddy-Induced Flux
the Arabian Sea,mesoscale eddy,salt and heat flux,thermohaline structure
Session 60 - Indian Ocean Dynamics, Air-sea Interaction and Biogeochemical Cycles
Abstract Accepted
This study explores the spatial structure and transport characteristics of eddies in the Arabian Sea (AS) using Argo profiles and satellite measurements. The majority of eddies occur in the northern AS, especially along its northeastern boundary. In contrast, the western AS had a relatively higher eddy kinetic energy compared to the eastern part. Particularly, the strongest energetic eddies were present in the Somali Current system. The composite results revealed the evident thermohaline anomalies caused by cyclonic eddies (CEs) and anticyclonic eddies (AEs) in the upper 300 m layers. The anomalous temperature structure within CEs and AEs showed a dominant dipole structure in the near-surface layer and a monopole structure below, with maximum temperature anomalies of approximately −0.8°C and +1.0°C located at depths of 100–150 m, respectively. The composited salinity structures for CEs and AEs exhibited monopole vertical structures and sandwich-like patterns. For AEs, large positive salinity anomalies occurred at subsurface layers of 60–180m with a peak value of about 0.07, and weak negative values were observed above 60m and below 180m. A similar vertical structure but with an opposite sign operates for CEs. The composited CE and AE caused an equatorward salt flux with values of −8.1 × 104 and −2.2 × 104kg s−1, respectively. CEs caused an equatorward heat flux of −7.7 × 1011 W, and AEs induced a poleward flux of 1.5×1011 W.