Blue-shifted deep ocean currents in the equatorial Indian Ocean

Abstract

Spectra from two decades of zonal current data at ~ 4000 m in the central and western equatorial Indian Ocean show a shift in the dominant frequencies from the west to the east. The 120-180-day period is stronger at 77� E, the 60-120-day period at 83� E, and the 30-90-day period at 93� E. The weakening of lower frequencies near the eastern boundary can be explained using theoretical ray paths of Kelvin waves and reflected Rossby waves. The equatorial Kelvin wave forced by winds reflects from the eastern boundary as Rossby waves with different meridional modes. After reflection, the low (high) frequency Rossby beams travel a larger (shorter) distance before reaching the bottom, thereby creating a shadow zone, a region with low wave energy, between the ray path and the eastern boundary. The shift in frequency with longitude is not evident in the top 1000 m, where the current is dominated by the semi-annual cycle.