Mesoscale Instability and Upwelling. Part 1: Observations at the North Atlantic Intergyre Front

Abstract

Mesoscale instabilities have been found with a wavelength of about 85 km growing along the meandering jet of the North Atlantic Intergyre Front at about 52°N, 33°W. They show the signature of baroclinic instabilities and are typified by vertical motions of up to 5 m d⁻¹, which have been diagnosed using the ω equation. The effect of the earth's curvature on motion on these scales is shown to be negligible.