The Open‐Ocean Side of the Malvinas Current in Argo Floats and 24 Years of Mercator Ocean High‐Resolution (1/12) Physical Reanalysis

Downstream of Drake Passage, the northern branches of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Polar Front and the Subantarctic Front, veer northward and the latter forms the Malvinas Current (MC). The MC flows along the continental slope up to 38°S where it loops southward as the Malvinas Return Flow. Using 24 years of Mercator Ocean physical reanalysis outputs and Argo float data, we explore the open‐ocean side of the MC. We observe the occurrence of blocking events at 49°S, a region where the MC is exposed to the warm and salty anticyclonic anomalies propagating westward along the steep slope of the Malvinas Escarpment. During these events, the MC is cut off from its source, and the MC transport is considerably reduced at 49°S. The open‐ocean side of the MC is regularly supplied with cold polar waters from the Polar front.The polar waters accumulate and recirculate between the MC and the Malvinas Return Flow. The water characteristics of the recirculation region change over time. The recirculation region hosts significantly lighter and fresher waters during the period 1997–2003 compared with prior and later years. The 1997–2003 salinity minimum in the recirculation region corresponds to a period with reduced feeding events at 49°S. Plain Language Summary The Malvinas Current (MC) is an extension of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It flows along the Argentinean continental slope up to 38°S where it performs a sharp cyclonic loop and turns to the south as the Malvinas Return Flow. We show that recurrently, the open‐ocean side of the MC is supplied with cold polar waters north of 49°S. These waters accumulate and recirculate between the MC and the Malvinas Return Flow. Blocking events at 49°S cut off the MC from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Twenty‐four years of Mercator Ocean physical reanalysis outputs show recurrent blocking and feeding events and subsequent recirculation cells. Salinity in the recirculation region showed a minimum in the water column in the 1997–2003 period. The salinity minimum corresponds to a change in the occurrence of feeding and blocking events. Key Points Polar waters recurrently feed a cyclonic recirculation region north of 49 degrees south on the open‐ocean side of the Malvinas Current The three‐dimensional structure of blocking and feeding events at 49 degrees south is characterized for the first time A 1997‐2003 salinity minimum observed in the recirculation region corresponds to a period with reduced feeding events at