Quasi-stationary North Equatorial Undercurrent jets across the tropical North Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Subthermocline circulation in the tropical North Pacific Ocean (2°N-30°N) is investigated using profiling float temperature-salinity data from the International Argo and the Origins of the Kuroshio and Mindanao Current (OKMC) projects. Three well-defined eastward jets are detected beneath the wind-driven, westward flowing North Equatorial Current. Dubbed the North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC) jets, these subthermocline jets have a typical core velocity of 2-5 cms-1 and are spatially coherent from the western boundary to about 120°W across the North Pacific basin. Centered around 9°N, 13°N, and 18°N in the western basin, the NEUC jet cores tend to migrate northward by ∼4°in the eastern basin. Vertically, the cores of the southern, central, and northern NEUC jets reside on the 26.9, 27.2, and 27.3 σθsurfaces, respectively, and they tend to shoal to lighter density surfaces, by about 0.2 σθ, as the jets progress eastward. © 2013 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.