A COMPARISON OF GEOSAT ALTIMETER INFERRED CURRENTS AND MEASURED FLOW AT 5400-M DEPTH IN THE ARGENTINE BASIN

A comparison is made between an 11 month duration current meter record obtained near the bottom at 40-degrees-27'S, 49-degrees-25'W in the m id-Argentine Basin in water depth 5400 m, and near-surface flow inferr ed from GEOSAT altimeter data. The GEOSAT has a repeat path time of 17 days, and inferred near-surface flow features with periods of 34 days or less should not be detectable. Thus the current meter record was f iltered with a 34 day low pass filter. Since only fluctuating flows ca n be inferred with the GEOSAT altimeter data, the deep recorded mean c urrent was added to the satellite-inferred flow for comparison purpose s. The deep flow and the altimeter-inferred near-surface flow agree re markably well, suggesting that for time scales greater-than-or-equal-t o 34 days the flow was nearly barotropic in this region of the South A tlantic.