Descent of Bottom Water Along the Rise in the Brazilian Basin

Henry Stommel Woods Hole oceanographic institution, Woods Hole, Ma 02543

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Robert J. Stanley Woods Hole oceanographic institution, Woods Hole, Ma 02543

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George P. Knapp Woods Hole oceanographic institution, Woods Hole, Ma 02543

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Robert Knox Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093

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Anthony Amos University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, TX 78373

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Abstract

Two hydrographic sections made by R.V. Atlantis II in June 1972 are presented to confirm the existence of an abrupt drop in level of deep isotherms along the Brazil coast at ∼15°S latitude. The phenomenon is explicable in terms of the Stommel-Arons (1972) model of a bottom slope current as a result of supercritical slope of the bottom at the Abrolhos shoals which terminate the onshore stagnant region.

Abstract

Two hydrographic sections made by R.V. Atlantis II in June 1972 are presented to confirm the existence of an abrupt drop in level of deep isotherms along the Brazil coast at ∼15°S latitude. The phenomenon is explicable in terms of the Stommel-Arons (1972) model of a bottom slope current as a result of supercritical slope of the bottom at the Abrolhos shoals which terminate the onshore stagnant region.

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