Teresa Chereskin

My research focuses on observations of ocean circulation, property transport and exchange. Current projects include formation of Antarctic Intermediate Water in the southeast Pacific and long-term variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. For IPY I am focusing on understanding and quantifying the dynamical balances of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) in Drake Passage. The Southern Ocean is especially sensitive to climate change, responding to winds that have increased over the past 30 years and warming significantly more than the global ocean over the past 50 years. The ACC is the pulse of the Southern Ocean, and the Drake Passage chokepoint is not only well suited geographically for measuring its time-varying transport, but observations and computer models suggest that dynamical balances which control its transport are particularly effective through the Drake Passage. Together with colleagues at the University of Rhode Island, I am deploying a transport line and a local dynamics array of CPIES (Current and Pressure recording Inverted Echo Sounders) spanning the predominant along-stream wavelength of 250 km for4 years. Data will be collected annually by acoustic telemetry, leaving the instruments und! isturbed until recovered.