Submesoscale Wrinkles in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Here, we will present new observations and high-resolution numerical simulations of submesoscale features in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Observations were made as part of the SMILES project from April-May 2015 in the Scotia Sea. During the cruise, a northward mesoscale meander of the ACC was sampled at high resolution using towed bodies, surface drifters, microstructure, and dye release. Satellite imagery indicated the presence of submesoscale ‘wrinkles’ along the sharp temperature gradient associated with the ACC. Observations using a moving vessel profiler (MVP) will be shown which reveal rich three-dimensional structure associated with these features. Numerical simulations, initialized with an idealized version of the observed front qualitatively reproduce these features. The numerical simulations allow us to quantify the vertical velocity associated with the submesoscale features, and their interaction with the strong barotropic jet associated with the ACC.