Water masses and currents in the upper tropical northeast Atlantic off northwest Africa
Open accessAbstract
Recent current measurements in the tropical eastern North Atlantic reproduce the components of the large scale flow field. However, the observations as well as the 1/12°‐FLAME model computations indicate that a lot of eddy scale variability is superimposed on the mean flow field. Despite of the disturbance by variability the signature of the Guinea Dome is well present. In November 2002 the Guinea Dome transport from direct observations was about 2.8 Sv above σ θ = 25.8 kg/m 3 and 4 Sv between σ θ = 25.8 and 27.1 kg/m 3. The oxygen minimum in the shadow zone comprises the central water and the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) layers and is located between the equatorial current system and the North Equatorial Current. The North Equatorial Counter‐ and Undercurrents at 3° to 6°N are major oxygen sources for the central water layer of the low‐oxygen regions in the northeastern tropical Atlantic. A second, northern North Equatorial Countercurrent (nNECC) band exists at 8° to 10°N. The nNECC carries oxygen rich water from the southern hemisphere eastward but with an admixture of water from the northern hemisphere. A float at 200 m depth was spreading eastward in the North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC), at 28°W it shifted northward into the nNECC, and then was trapped in the Guinea Dome region for more than 3 years. The model indicates the region 22° to 32°W as the area of exchange between the NECC/NEUC and the nNECC bands. In the AAIW layer the northern Intermediate Countercurrent acts as oxygen source for the oxygen minimum zone.
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The North Equatorial Counter-Current has a large seasonal cycle.
“South of the region, the circulation is dominated by the North Equatorial Counter-Current (NECC), which has a large seasonal cycle [13,14].”
From A model study of the seasonality of sea surface temperature and circulation in the Atlantic North-eastern Tropical Upwelling System (2015) · cites this paper as [14]
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Cited by
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Oxygen minimum zones in the eastern tropical Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Karstensen, J., Stramma, L., & Visbeck, M. (2008) · Progress in Oceanography · doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.05.009 · Cited by 666 · see citing works
Self-citationFaye, S., Lazar, A., Sow, B. A., & Gaye, A. T. (2015) · Frontiers in Physics · doi:10.3389/fphy.2015.00076 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“South of the region, the circulation is dominated by the North Equatorial Counter-Current (NECC), which has a large seasonal cycle [13, 14].”
BackgroundHahn, J., Brandt, P., Greatbatch, R. J., Krahmann, G., & Körtzinger, A. (2014) · Climate Dynamics · doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2065-0 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
- Authors
- Stramma, L., Hüttl, S., & Schafstall, J.
- Affiliations
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE)
- Leibniz‐Institut für Meereswissenschaften an der Universität Kiel IFM‐GEOMAR Kiel Germany
- ORCID
- Stramma, Lothar
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2005-12
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- C12
- ISSN
- 0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2010209817
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 3.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (publishedVersion)
- Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
- Keywords
- water masses, ocean currents, eddy variability, oxygen minimum zone, Antarctic Intermediate Water, North Equatorial Countercurrent, maritime transport, flame model, Northeast Atlantic
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