CoAuthors

Francisco Javier Beron-Vera (Department of Atmospheric Science, Ronsentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, USA); Martín Saraceno (Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera (CONICET-UBA); Instituto Franco-Argentino para el Estudio del Clima y sus Impactos (UMI IFAECI/CNRS-CONICET-UBA); Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y lo Océanos, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Natura, Argentina); Claudia Gloria Simionato (Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera (CONICET-UBA); Instituto Franco-Argentino para el Estudio del Clima y sus Impactos (UMI IFAECI/CNRS-CONICET-UBA); Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y lo Océanos, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Natura, Argentina)

We investigate the permeability of the Malvinas Current over a period well sampled by satellite altimetry using geometric and probabilistic nonlinear dynamic techniques for Lagrangian coherence detection. The geometric technique builds on notions of strain and shear expressible through the invariants of an appropriate time average of the right Cauchy-Green strain tensor. The probabilistic technique uses a transfer operator based on short-run trajectories which renders the dynamics autonomous and provides a globale evolution perspective. In agreement with in-situ and remote observations, both seemingly different approaches to Lagrangian coherence detection consistently reveal recurrent water instrusions over the continental shelf, which are verified by direct trajectory integrations. Some implications of these intrusions are discussed.