View article

TOPEX/Poseidon‐derived along track SHA, climatological temperature, and salinity fields were used within a two‐layer scheme to estimate the depth of the 8°C isotherm in the southwestern Atlantic. These fields were used to monitor the formation and characteristics of the Brazil Current warm‐core anticyclonic rings shed by the first meander trough after poleward excursions of the Brazil Current (BC). Results reveal that 40 warm‐core rings were shed by the BC between January 1993 and October 1998. The observed lifetime ranges between 1 and 4 months, with a mean value of approximately 2 months. At any given time, two to three anticyclonic rings coexisted in the Brazil‐Malvinas confluence region. Most of the rings drifted southward without coalescing with their parent current. Only four rings were identified as being reabsorbed by the BC front after they were shed. No evidence of propagation or absorption of …