Journal ArticleDOI
On the freshwater forcing and transport of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation
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In this article, it is argued that the freshwater loss to the atmosphere arises mainly in the subtropical South Atlantic and is balanced by northward freshwater transport in the wind-driven sub-tropical gyre, while the thermohaline circulation transports freshwater southward.Abstract:
The 'conveyor belt' circulation of the Atlantic Ocean transports large amounts of heat northward, acting as a heating system for the northern North Atlantic region. It is widely thought that this circulation is driven by atmospheric freshwater export from the Atlantic catchment region, and that it transports freshwater northward to balance the loss to the atmosphere. Using results from a simple conceptual model and a global circulation model, it is argued here that the freshwater loss to the atmosphere arises mainly in the subtropical South Atlantic and is balanced by northward freshwater transport in the wind-driven subtropical gyre, while the thermohaline circulation transports freshwater southward. It is further argued that the direction of freshwater transport is closely linked to the dynamical regime and stability of the 'conveyor belt': if its freshwater transport is indeed southward, then its flow is purely thermally driven and inhibited by the freshwater forcing. In this case the circulation is not far from Stommel's saddle-node bifurcation, and a circulation state without NADW formation would also be stable.read more
Citations
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Revisiting meridional overturing bistability using a minimal set of state variables: stochastic theory
TL;DR: In this article, a stochastic analytical model of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is presented and tested against climate model data, characterised by an underlying deterministic differential equation describing the evolution of the central state variable of the system.
Journal ArticleDOI
Consistent picture of the horizontal circulation of the Atlantic Ocean over 3 decades
Veronica Cainzos,M. D. Pérez-Hernández,Daniel Santana-Toscano,Cristina Arumí-Planas,Alonso Hernández-Guerra +4 more
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors measured absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat, and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity.
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Slow and soft passage through tipping point of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a changing climate
TL;DR: In this article , the tipping point of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is largely delayed by the slow passage effect, which causes a large tipping lag of up to 1300 years and strongly relaxes the abruptness of tipping.
Dynamics of the Ocean Thermohaline Circulation
TL;DR: A special section on abrupt climate change was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A., 15 Feb. 2000, with perspectives as mentioned in this paper, which gave an up-to-date expositions of the research frontier.
References
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Climatological atlas of the world ocean
TL;DR: A project to objectively analyze historical ocean temperature, salinity, oxygen, and percent oxygen saturation data for the world ocean has recently been completed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey.
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Climatological Atlas of the World Ocean
TL;DR: A project to objectively analyze historical ocean temperature, salinity, oxygen, and percent oxygen saturation data for the world ocean has recently been completed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey.
Journal ArticleDOI
Normal Monthly Wind Stress Over the World Ocean with Error Estimates
Sol Hellerman,Mel Rosenstein +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, wind and air-minus-sea temperatures are calculated in a form suitable for determining stress by any bulk aerodynamics model in which the drag coefficient can be represented by six or less coefficients of a second-degree polynomial in wind speed and stability.
Journal ArticleDOI
Interocean Exchange of Thermocline Water
TL;DR: In this paper, it is proposed that this return flow is accomplished primarily within the ocean's warm water thermocline layer, where the main thermoclines of the ocean are linked as they participate in a thermohaline-driven global scale circulation cell associated with NADW formation.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Great Ocean Conveyor
TL;DR: The ocean's conveyor appears to be driven by the salt left behind as the result of water-vapor transport through the atmosphere from the Atlantic to the Pacific basin this paper.
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