Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current

Abstract The Brazil Current (BC) is a weak western boundary current flowing along the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. It is frequently described as a flow with intense mesoscale activity and relatively low volume transport between 5.0 and 10.0 Sv. We use a 13-year eddy-resolving primitive-equation simu...

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Autores principales:	M. B. Gouveia, R. Duran, J. A. Lorenzzetti, A. T. Assireu, R. Toste, L. P. de F. Assad, D. F. M. Gherardi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/383ab175de924c4487414744ec7300f0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:383ab175de924c4487414744ec7300f02021-12-02T14:12:45ZPersistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current10.1038/s41598-020-79386-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/383ab175de924c4487414744ec7300f02021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79386-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The Brazil Current (BC) is a weak western boundary current flowing along the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. It is frequently described as a flow with intense mesoscale activity and relatively low volume transport between 5.0 and 10.0 Sv. We use a 13-year eddy-resolving primitive-equation simulation to show that the presence of persistent meanders and eddies leads to characteristic quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns, aptly extracted through climatological Lagrangian Coherent Structures (cLCS). The cLCS position the surface expression of the BC core along the 2000-m isobath, in excellent visual agreement with high resolution satellite sea-surface temperature and the model Eulerian mean velocity. The cLCS deformation pattern also responds to zonally persistent cross-shelf SSH transition from positive (high) values near coastline to low (negative) values between 200- and 2000-m and back to positive (high) offshore from the 2000-m isobath. Zonally-paired cyclonic and anticyclonic structures are embedded in this transition, also causing the cLCS to deform into chevrons. An efficient transport barrier is identified close to the 200-m isobath confirmed by limited inshore movement of drogued drifters and accurately indicated by an along slope maxima of climatological strength of attraction. We also show that the persistent cyclonic and anticyclonic structures may induce localized cross-shelf transport. Regions of low climatological strength of attraction coincide with large shelves and with stagnant synthetic trajectories. We also show that cLCS accurately depict trajectories initiated at the location of Chevron’s spill (November 2011) as compared to synthetic and satellite-tracked trajectories, and the outline of the oil from that accident. There is also an agreement between the large-scale oil slicks reaching the Brazilian beaches (from August 2019 to February 2020) and the strength of climatological attraction at the coast. Our work also clarifies the influence of persistent mesoscale structures on the regional circulation. The identification and quantitative description of climatological Lagrangian coherent structures is expected to improve the effectiveness of future emergency response to oil spills, contingency planning, rescue operations, larval and fish connectivity assessment, drifter launch strategies, waste pollutant and marine debris dispersion and destination.M. B. GouveiaR. DuranJ. A. LorenzzettiA. T. AssireuR. TosteL. P. de F. AssadD. F. M. GherardiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-18 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q M. B. Gouveia R. Duran J. A. Lorenzzetti A. T. Assireu R. Toste L. P. de F. Assad D. F. M. Gherardi Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
description	Abstract The Brazil Current (BC) is a weak western boundary current flowing along the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. It is frequently described as a flow with intense mesoscale activity and relatively low volume transport between 5.0 and 10.0 Sv. We use a 13-year eddy-resolving primitive-equation simulation to show that the presence of persistent meanders and eddies leads to characteristic quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns, aptly extracted through climatological Lagrangian Coherent Structures (cLCS). The cLCS position the surface expression of the BC core along the 2000-m isobath, in excellent visual agreement with high resolution satellite sea-surface temperature and the model Eulerian mean velocity. The cLCS deformation pattern also responds to zonally persistent cross-shelf SSH transition from positive (high) values near coastline to low (negative) values between 200- and 2000-m and back to positive (high) offshore from the 2000-m isobath. Zonally-paired cyclonic and anticyclonic structures are embedded in this transition, also causing the cLCS to deform into chevrons. An efficient transport barrier is identified close to the 200-m isobath confirmed by limited inshore movement of drogued drifters and accurately indicated by an along slope maxima of climatological strength of attraction. We also show that the persistent cyclonic and anticyclonic structures may induce localized cross-shelf transport. Regions of low climatological strength of attraction coincide with large shelves and with stagnant synthetic trajectories. We also show that cLCS accurately depict trajectories initiated at the location of Chevron’s spill (November 2011) as compared to synthetic and satellite-tracked trajectories, and the outline of the oil from that accident. There is also an agreement between the large-scale oil slicks reaching the Brazilian beaches (from August 2019 to February 2020) and the strength of climatological attraction at the coast. Our work also clarifies the influence of persistent mesoscale structures on the regional circulation. The identification and quantitative description of climatological Lagrangian coherent structures is expected to improve the effectiveness of future emergency response to oil spills, contingency planning, rescue operations, larval and fish connectivity assessment, drifter launch strategies, waste pollutant and marine debris dispersion and destination.
format	article
author	M. B. Gouveia R. Duran J. A. Lorenzzetti A. T. Assireu R. Toste L. P. de F. Assad D. F. M. Gherardi
author_facet	M. B. Gouveia R. Duran J. A. Lorenzzetti A. T. Assireu R. Toste L. P. de F. Assad D. F. M. Gherardi
author_sort	M. B. Gouveia
title	Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
title_short	Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
title_full	Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
title_fullStr	Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
title_full_unstemmed	Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
title_sort	persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/383ab175de924c4487414744ec7300f0
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Persistent meanders and eddies lead to quasi-steady Lagrangian transport patterns in a weak western boundary current

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