LAUSR

AbstractZonal momentum input into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) by westerly winds is ultimately removed via topographic form stress induced by large bathymetric features that obstruct the path of the current. These bathymetric features also support the export of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) across the ACC via deep, geostrophically balanced, northward flows. These deep geostrophic currents modify the topographic form stress, implying that changes in AABW export will alter the ocean bottom pressure and require a rearrangement of the ACC in order to preserve its zonal momentum balance. A conceptual model of the ACC momentum balance is used to derive a relationship between the volume export of AABW and the shape of the sea surface across the ACC’s standing meanders. This prediction is tested using an idealized eddy-resolving ACC/Antarctic shelf channel model that includes both the upper and lower cells of the Southern Ocean meridional overturning circulation, using two different topographic configu...