We report current meter measurements obtained by four moorings deployed across the Malvinas Current (MC) at 44.7°S during 18 months between December 2015-June 2017. Previous measurements of the MC strength have been reported only close to the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence, hindering the interpretation of the flow variability. The record-length time averaged velocities and variance ellipses indicate a strong northward along-isobath. The MC flow is dominated by its barotropic component. The meridional velocities at the western and eastern moorings are not correlated and show large amplitude oscillations which are coherent with the passage of mesoscale features over the moorings. Satellite altimetry data, that are highly correlated with 20-day low-pass filtered in situ velocities (r ~ 0.80), show that the MC variability is affected by the propagation of sea level anomalies (SLA) along the Patagonian slope with phase speeds that range between 0.21 ± 0.04 m s⁻¹ and 0.14 ± 0.01 m s⁻¹. SLAs propagate northward along the slope following contours of constant planetary potential vorticity and its phase speeds decrease towards the east along the slope. SLA arriving at 44.7°S originate near the North Scotia Ridge and along the Malvinas Escarpment, along the northern edge of the Malvinas Plateau. We suggest that the interaction between mesoscale features and the complex bathymetry at those locations generate instabilities that enhance the generation of SLAs that propagate in the flow direction along the western boundary of the Argentine Basin and affect the variability of the MC velocities observed at 44.7°S.

我们报告了在2015年12月至2017年6月的18个月中，通过44.7°S横跨Malvinas Current（MC）的四个系泊设备获得的电流表测量值。以前的MC强度测量值据报道仅接近巴西-Malvinas Confluence。流量可变性的解释。记录长度的时间平均速度和方差椭圆表示等北向强北。MC流主要由其正压分量决定。西部和东部系泊处的子午速度不相关，并且显示出大幅度的振荡，这与中尺度特征在系泊处的通过是一致的。与20天低通滤波原位速度（r〜0.80）高度相关的卫星测高数据，^-1和0.14±0.01 m s ^-1。SLA按照恒定的行星势涡度的轮廓沿着斜坡向北传播，其相速度沿着斜坡向东递减。到达44.7°S的SLA起源于北斯科舍脊附近，沿着马尔维纳斯悬崖，沿着马尔维纳斯高原的北边缘。我们建议中尺度特征与这些位置处的复杂测深之间的相互作用会产生不稳定性，从而增强沿阿根廷盆地西边界沿水流方向传播的SLA的生成，并影响在44.7°S观测到的MC速度的变化性。