New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Antarctic Intermediate Water variability in the northern New Zealand region

Basil R. Stanton

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research Limited
P.O. Box 14 901
Wellington, New Zealand
email: b.stanton@niwa.cri.nz

Abstract   In the region between 30°S and northern New Zealand, vertical salinity profiles through the core of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) show a high degree of spatial and temporal variability, and this variability is much larger than that found in nearby ocean areas. Characteristic features are interleaving of salinity layers and large changes in the salinity minimum between adjacent stations. Quantifying the changes through the calculation of an intrusion index highlights the degree of variability and the importance of boundary mixing along the New Zealand slope. However, the main cause of the variability is the meeting and mixing of higher salinity AAIW, arriving from the north-west (having travelled around the subtropical gyre) with lower salinity AAIW arriving by more direct entry from the north-east. These waters meet in the region through the action of the meso-scale eddy field. Present data indicate that where strong salinity interleaving occurs, the length scales are of the order of 10 km and the time scales are of the order of a few days. Resolution of the processes at work will require studies on finer scales than presently available.

Keywords   Antarctic Intermediate Water; East Auckland Current; meso-scale variability

M01083 Received 15 October 2001; accepted 20 December 2001; published 17 September 2002
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2002, Vol. 36: 645-654
0028-8330/02/3603-0645 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

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