submesoscale coherent vortices
From Glossary of Meteorology
(Abbreviated SCV.) Isolated, long-lived eddies, having spatial scales smaller than mesoscale eddies; usually anticyclonic, having a geopotential maximum and stratification minimum in the center, with a velocity field having an interior maximum.
SCV types include thermocline SCVs, subthermocline SCVs, Meddies, Arctic Ocean SCVs, and others.
McWilliams, J. C. 1985. Submesoscale, coherent vortices in the ocean. Rev. Geophys.. 23. 165–182.
