The southeast Pacific is one of the regions where atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere interactions have far reaching effects. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the local interannual variability of sea level, seawater properties in the upper 2000 m, the position of the ACC fronts, and atmospheric forcing. We reveal the large-scale pattern of the interannual variability of SLA with two trend reversals in 2001 and 2005, related to the local wind forcing, modulated by Southern Annular Mode (SAM). We show that a similar reversal in both the thermosteric and halosteric sea level trends occurred around 2006-2007. We find that the local position of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts also responds to wind forcing by shifting northward/southward during high/low SAM indices. Coupling wind forcing with the vertical distribution of salinity allowed us to conclude that the periods of high/low SAM indices are less/more favorable for the Antarctic Intermediate Water formation.
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