EGU21-2079
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2079
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Where and how the East Madagascar Current retroflection originates?

Juliano Ramanantsoa, Pierrick Penven, Roshin Raj, Lionel Renault, Marek Ostrowski, Fehmi Dilmahamod, and Mathieu Rouault
Juliano Ramanantsoa et al.
  • NORCE, Climat, Norway (hram@norceresearch.no)

In-situ and remote sensing data are used to identify three states of the East Madagascar Current (EMC) southern extension: Early-Retroflection, Canonical-Retroflection and No Retroflection. Retroflections occur 47% of the time. EMC strength regulates the retroflection state, although impinged mesoscale eddies also contribute to the retroflection formation. The Early-Retroflection is linked with the EMC volume transport. Anticyclonic eddies drifting from the central Indian Ocean to the coast favour Early-Retroflection formation, anticyclonic eddies near the southern tip of Madagascar promote the generation of Canonical Retroflection, and No-Retroflection appears to be associated with a lower Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE). Knowledge of the EMC retroflection state could help predicting: (1) coastal upwelling South of Madagascar, (2) the South-East Madagascar phytoplankton bloom, (3) the formation of South Indian Ocean Counter Current (SICC).

How to cite: Ramanantsoa, J., Penven, P., Raj, R., Renault, L., Ostrowski, M., Dilmahamod, F., and Rouault, M.: Where and how the East Madagascar Current retroflection originates?, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2079, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2079, 2021.

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