Submesoscale cyclones in the Agulhas Current

Abstract

Gliders were deployed for the very first time in the Agulhas Current region to investigate processes of interactions between western boundary currents and shelf waters. Continuous observations from the gliders in water depths of 100-1000 m and over a period of 1 month provide the first high resolution observations of the Agulhas Current’s inshore front. The observations collected in a non-meandering Agulhas Current show the presence of submesoscale cyclonic eddies, generated at the inshore boundary of the Agulhas Current. The submesoscale cyclones are often associated with warm water plumes, which extend from their western edge and exhibit strong north-eastward currents. These features are a result of shear instabilities and extract their energy from the mean Agulhas Current jet.