Abstract
We analyze the flow of Antarctic Bottom Water in the Brazil Basin and the flow of bottom water from the Guiana Basin through the westward equatorial channels into the North American Basin. Much consideration is related to the eastward flow in the equatorial fracture zones in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: the Romanche and Chain fracture zones. A special region for analysis is the inflow of Antarctic Bottom Water into the western part of the Romanche Fracture Zone at 22°30′ W where a deep spillway is formed. This region is the beginning of the bottom water flow in the Romanche Fracture Zone. The bottom water flows into the fracture over two sills: one with a depth of 4430 m in the narrow main channel of the fracture (3.5 km wide along the 4000 m isobath) and another with a depth of 4570 m in the gap of the Southern Wall of the fracture (8.8 km wide along the 4000 m isobath). We also analyze overflows in the region of the main sills of the equatorial channels and outflow of Antarctic Bottom Water to the Guinea Basin. Analysis is based on the CTD casts combined with LADCP profiles, and a mooring deployed in the region. We assume Wüst’s (1936) definition of Antarctic Bottom Water propagation. In other words, this is the bottom water of Antarctic rather than North Atlantic origin. However, there is no generally accepted isotherm or value of any characteristics in literature for the upper boundary of Antarctic Bottom Water in the Equatorial and North Atlantic. Therefore, it is essential that quantitative estimates of Antarctic Bottom Water properties and transport depend on the choice of this boundary.
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Morozov, E.G., Tarakanov, R.Y., Frey, D.I. (2021). Further Propagation of Antarctic Bottom Water from the Brazil Basin. In: Bottom Gravity Currents and Overflows in Deep Channels of the Atlantic Ocean. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83074-8_5
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