Determination of Spatiotemporal Variability of the Indian Equatorial Intermediate Current

Using 4-yr mooring observations and ocean circulation model experiments, this study characterizes the spatial and temporal variability of the Equatorial Intermediate Current (EIC; 200–1200 m) in the Indian Ocean and investigates the causes. The EIC is dominated by seasonal and intraseasonal variability, with interannual variability being weak. The seasonal component dominates the midbasin with a predominant semiannual period of ~166 days but weakens toward east and west where the EIC generally exhibits large intraseasonal variations. The resonant second and fourth baroclinic modes at the semiannual period make the largest contribution to the EIC, determining the overall EIC structures. The higher baroclinic modes, however, modify the EIC’s vertical structures, forming multiple cores during some time periods. The EIC intensity has an abrupt change near 73°E, which is strong to the east and weak to the west. Model simulation suggests that the abrupt change is caused primarily by the Maldives, which block the propagation of equatorial waves. The Maldives impede the equatorial Rossby waves, reducing the EIC’s standard deviation associated with reflected Rossby waves by ~48% and directly forced waves by 20%. Mode decomposition further demonstrates that the semiannual resonance amplitude of the second baroclinic mode reduces by 39% because of the Maldives. However, resonance amplitude of the four baroclinic mode is less affected, because the Maldives fall in the node region of mode 4’s resonance. The research reveals the spatiotemporal variability of the poorly understood EIC, contributing to our understanding of equatorial wave–current dynamics.

Intermediate water masses, a major supplier of oxygen for the eastern tropical Pacific ocean

It is well known that Intermediate Water Masses (IWM) are sinking in high latitudes and ventilate the lower thermocline (500–1500 m depth). We here highlight how the IWM oxygen content and the IWM pathway along the Equatorial Intermediate Current System (EICS) towards the eastern tropical Pacific ocean are essential for the supply of oxygen to the lower thermocline and the Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs). To this end, we assess here a heterogeneous subset of ocean models characterized by a horizontal resolution ranging from 0.1° to 2.8°. Subtropical oxygen levels in the lower thermocline, i.e., IWM are statistically correlated with tropical oxygen levels and OMZs. Sensitivity simulations suggest that the oxygen biases of the subtropical IWM oxygen levels contribute to oxygen biases of the tropical thermocline as an increase of the IWM oxygen by 60 mmol m−3 results in a 10 mmol m−3 increase in the tropical ocean in a timescale of 50 years. In the equatorial regions, the IWM recirculates into the Equatorial Intermediate Current System (EICS). By comparing tracer and particle release simulations, we show that a developed EICS increases eastern tropical ventilation by 30 %. Typical climate models lack in representing crucial aspects of this supply: biases in IWM properties are prominent across climate models and the EICS is basically absent in models with typical resolutions of ~ 1°. We emphasize that these biases need to be reduced in global climate models to allow reliable projections of OMZs in a changing climate.

Features of the Equatorial Intermediate Current Associated with Basin Resonance in the Indian Ocean

This paper investigates the features of the Equatorial Intermediate Current (EIC) in the Indian Ocean and its relationship with basin resonance at the semiannual time scale by using in situ observations, reanalysis output, and a continuously stratified linear ocean model (LOM). The observational results show that the EIC is characterized by prominent semiannual variations with velocity reversals and westward phase propagation and that it is strongly influenced by the pronounced second baroclinic mode structure but with identifiable vertical phase propagation. Similar behavior is found in the reanalysis data and LOM results. The simulation of wind-driven equatorial wave dynamics in the LOM reveals that the observed variability of the EIC can be largely explained by the equatorial basin resonance at the semiannual period, when the second baroclinic Rossby wave reflected from the eastern boundary intensifies the directly forced equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves in the basin interior. The sum of the first 10 modes can reproduce the main features of the EIC. Among these modes, the resonant second baroclinic mode makes the largest contribution, which dominates the vertical structure, semiannual cycle, and westward phase propagation of the EIC. The other 9 modes, however, are also important, and the superposition of the first 10 modes produces downward energy propagation in the equatorial Indian Ocean.

Annual Reversal of the Equatorial Intermediate Current in the Pacific: Observations and Model Diagnostics

A large reversal of zonal transport below the thermocline was observed over a period of 6 months in the western Pacific Ocean between 2°S and the equator [from 26.2 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) eastward in October 1999 to 28.6 Sv westward in April 2000]. To document this reversal and assess its origin, an unprecedented collection of ADCP observations of zonal currents (2004–06), together with a realistic OGCM simulation of the tropical Pacific, was analyzed. The results of this study indicate that this reversal is the signature of intense annual variability in the subsurface zonal circulation at the equator, at the level of the Equatorial Intermediate Current (EIC) and the Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current (L-EIC). In this study, the EIC and the L-EIC are both shown to reverse seasonally to eastward currents in boreal spring (and winter for the L-EIC) over a large depth range extending from 300 m to at least 1200 m. The peak-to-peak amplitude of the annual cycle of subthermocline zonal currents at 165°E in the model is ∼30 cm s−1 at the depth of the EIC, and ∼20 cm s−1 at the depth of the L-EIC, corresponding to a mass transport change as large as ∼100 Sv for the annual cycle of near-equatorial zonal transport integrated between 2°S and 2°N and between 410- and 1340-m depths. Zonal circulations on both sides of the equator (roughly within 2° and 5.5° in latitude) partially compensate for the large transport variability. The main characteristics of the annual variability of middepth modeled currents and subsurface temperature (e.g., zonal and vertical phase velocities, meridional structure) are consistent, in the OGCM simulation, with the presence, beneath the thermocline, of a vertically propagating equatorial Rossby wave forced by the westward-propagating component of the annual equatorial zonal wind stress. Interannual modulation of the annual variability in subthermocline equatorial transport is discussed.

Variability and Linkages of New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent and Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current

Velocity at depths of 700–800 m was measured between September 1998 and October 2002 at 2.5°S, 142°E off the New Guinea coast and at 0°, 138°E to examine the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent (NGCUC) and the current on the equator carrying Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). Velocity characteristics before November 1999 were markedly different from those after November 1999. The typical state occurred during the second period: the intermediate NGCUC and the Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current (LEIC) varied markedly with an annual cycle in opposite phases. In austral winter, the NGCUC flowed west-northwestward strongly (14 cm s−1, 285°T), especially in May–July during which the LEIC disappeared and eddylike equatorial variations with periods of 20–60 days were significant. In austral summer, the LEIC flowed westward strongly (12 cm s−1, 270°T), especially in October–December, whereas the NGCUC reversed its direction repeatedly to flow east-southeastward in November–February. Thus, the intermediate NGCUC and LEIC are present stably in austral winter and summer, respectively. These variations of the currents must change the pathway of AAIW seasonally. The state during the first period was atypical: the current on the equator flowed eastward strongly (13.0 cm s−1, 81°T), that is, no LEIC was present, and the NGCUC flowed west-northwestward strongly (14.8 cm s−1, 280°T) without changing direction. The atypical state may be related to the 1998–99 La Niña. In addition, power spectral peaks at periods of 14–35 days of meridional velocity at the equator suggest that intermediate tropical instability waves are generated in October–December in the typical state.