The Santos Bifurcation: present and past

Abstract

Studies on the geological record of the Antarctic Intermediate Water in the Southwest Atlantic are quite scarce, despite its fundamental role in the southern circulation. This water mass, transported by the Subtropical Gyre, undergoes a bifurcation when reaching the South Atlantic's west margin, forming the Santos Bifurcation.In this project, we propose to study the Santos Bifurcation at different time scales, in an interdisciplinary approach, which involves its spatial variability over tens to thousands of years. When studying the Bifurcation variability, the authors understand that it is possible to recognize the Antarctic Intermediate Water's variability. The methodological approach involves everything from current velocity measurements to paleoceanographic analyzes involving the study of cores and large-scale modeling. The project involves researchers from three institutes in São Paulo, one from Paraná and one from the United States. (AU)