AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Zonal currents in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean can flip direction

Since the 1980s, scientists have studied the three-dimensional circulation of the upper layers in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, but data on the currents below 500 m are sparse. To observe the upper and intermediate circulation (0–1200 m) in this region, Gouriou et al. (2006) examined the measurements of a Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, collected during two cruises, in October 1999 and April 2000. Their analysis revealed that the secondary South Subsurface Countercurrent, usually lying at 6ºS and 400-m depth, had a deep extension at 165ºE and a maximum core velocity around 5ºS and 1000 m in depth during both cruises. Furthermore, the Equatorial Intermediate Current (EIC) and the Lower EIC, which flowed westward between 165ºE and 180º during the first cruise, were replaced by eastward flow along the equator during the second cruise. The authors noted that the bathymetry surrounding equatorial islands could factor into the complexity of this system; they stressed that variability in water transport must be studied in greater detail to fully understand the zonal mass balance of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

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