Azores Countercurrent (Geography)
Azores Countercurrent
The Azores Countercurrent (AzCC) is a band of westward oceanic transport across the North Atlantic at about the latitude of the Azores.
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The driving mechanism is an anomaly in the meridional change of the wind stress curl in the eastern North Atlantic. According to Alves et al. [2002]: [A]n Azores Counter Current (AzCC) is expected to form north of the AzC axis, as a result of a rectification process of the turbulent mesoscale features associated with the AzC jet. This appears as a westward–flowing mean stream transporting at approximately two to five Sverdrups. This is consistent with the meridional asymmetry observed across the AzC system, in which more turbulent features tend to spread and survive at the northern flank of AzC than to the south.
See Also
Further Reading
- Physical Oceanography Index
- Reiner Onken. The Azores Countercurrent. JPO, 23:1638–1646, 1993.
- Mario Alves, Fabienne Gaillard, Michael Sparrow, Michaela Knoll, and Sylvie Giraud. Circulation patterns and transport of the Azores Front–Current system. DSR II, 49:3983–4002, 2002.
