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
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Journal ArticleDOI
Solution of a Model for the Oceanic Pycnocline Depth: Scaling of Overturning Strength and Meridional Pressure Difference
Anders Levermann,Alexa Griesel +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, an analytic solution for the overturning strength as a function of the meridional pressure difference is derived and used to discuss their mutual scaling, and it is shown that scaling occurs only in two unphysical regimes of the model.
Journal ArticleDOI
AMOC Stabilization Under the Interaction With Tipping Polar Ice Sheets
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors focus on such cascading events involving the Greenland Ice Sheet, the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
Book ChapterDOI
Polar Tropical and Interhemispheric Linkages
TL;DR: The role of ocean circulation and deep-ocean carbon storage in climate change has been discussed in this article. But, the role of the ocean's role was largely considered passive as it was believed that climatically relevant ocean change is triggered by climate change itself.
Convective Circulation Driven by a Non-Uniform Bottom Heat Flux and a Localised Salinity Flux
TL;DR: In this article, a uniform heat flux was imposed into a long tank over one half of its base and cooled the other half, achieving large Rayleigh numbers and small aspect ratios.
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.
Book
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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