Ocean Science www.ocean-sci.net 1812-0784 1812-0792 6 1 2010 10.5194/os-6-143-2010 http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/143/2010/ http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/143/2010/os-6-143-2010.html http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/143/2010/os-6-143-2010.pdf 143 159 2010-02-02 Transformation of an Agulhas eddy near the continental slope S. Baker-Yeboah sbaker@mit.edu G. R. Flierl G. G. Sutyrin Y. Zhang Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882, USA The transformation of Agulhas eddies near the continental slope of southern Africa and their subsequent self-propagation are analyzed in both observational data and numerical simulations. Self-propagation results from a net dipole moment of a generalized heton structure consisting of a surface-intensified anticyclonic eddy and deep cyclonic pattern. 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