| Session Details | |
| Section | OS - Ocean Sciences |
| Session Title | Western Boundary Currents, Transport, Path Variability, Eddies and Continental Shelf Processes |
| Main Convener | Dr. Moninya Roughan (University of New South Wales, Australia) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Henk Dijkstra (Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht University, Netherlands) Prof. Stefano Pierini (Università di Napoli "Parthenope", Italy) Dr. Masami Nonaka (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan) Dr. Mu Mu (Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) Dr. Toru Miyama (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan) Prof. Ruoying He (North Carolina State University, United States) |
| Session Description | Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) transport large volumes of warm water poleward, as such are key dynamical drivers in western ocean basins with a strong influence on climate and local weather patterns. Their paths display variability on many time scales particularly on interannual-to-decadal time scales. In addition they have a profound physical, biogeochemical and ecological impact on adjacent continental shelf waters. WBCs and their eddy fields drive cross shelf exchange and vertical circulation thus influencing the productivity of coastal waters. It has also been shown that WBCs are strengthening, and increasing their poleward penetration faster than other less dynamic regions of the ocean, thus driving warming. The WBCs of the Pacific Ocean: the Kuroshio and the East Australian Current (EAC) have large volume flux, strong flow, exhibit significant path variability and dynamic meso-scale eddy fields. The EAC dominates the circulation along the narrow continental shelf of southeastern Australia, while the Kuroshio interacts vigorously with topography and islands, driving large scale flow perturbations downstream. By way of contrast, the broad continental shelf inshore of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic is strongly impacted by buoyancy forcing (from fresh water outflow) and local wind stress. In recent years significant investment has been made into ocean observing Systems (e.g the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System). These new observations in both deep water and continental shelf regions, combined with numerical modellingefforts have provided new insights into the dynamics, structure and variability of these boundary currents their impact on continental shelf regions and future changes. We welcome a combination of modelling, theoretical and observational studies of the physics and biogeochemistry of WBCs of the Pacific Ocean, the Kuroshio and the EAC, and by way of contrast, the Gulf Stream. We also welcome studies on other western boundary currents (e.g. Oyashio Current or western boundary currents in the Indian Oceans). Topics can include WBC path variability on multiple timescales, their cross shelf processes and interactions on the continental shelf as well as their impact on biogeochemistry, biological transport of passive or active particles and connectivity. |