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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Journal ArticleDOI
Response of Thermohaline Circulation to Freshwater Forcing under Present-Day and LGM Conditions
Aixue Hu,Bette L. Otto-Bliesner,Gerald A. Meehl,Weiqing Han,Carrie Morrill,Esther C. Brady,Bruce P. Briegleb +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the thermohaline circulation (THC) responds to freshwater forcing in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean under present-day and the last glacial maximum (LGM) conditions using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model versions 2 and 3.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stability of the Atlantic Overturning Circulation: Competition between Bering Strait Freshwater Flux and Agulhas Heat and Salt Sources
TL;DR: In this article, the role played by interocean fluxes of buoyancy in stabilizing the present-day overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is examined, where the profiles and amplitudes of these sources are based mainly on the heat and salt fluxes in a high-resolution ocean model (OCCAM).
Journal ArticleDOI
Dependence of abrupt Atlantic meridional ocean circulation changes on climate background states
TL;DR: In this paper, a stronger temperature inversion between the surface and intermediate layer in the South Labrador Sea induces a faster restart of convective processes during the initial resumption of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC).
Journal ArticleDOI
On the hydrological cycle under paleoclimatic conditions as derived from AGCM simulations
Gerrit Lohmann,Stephan Lorenz +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the atmospheric hydrological cycle is compared for different time slices of the late Quaternary for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and the model's sensitivity with respect to tropical cooling relative to the CLIMAP reconstruction is examined.
Journal ArticleDOI
Simulation of Holocene cooling events in a coupled climate model
TL;DR: In this article, three potential mechanisms behind centennial-scale Holocene cooling events are studied in simulations performed with the coupled climate model ECBilt-CLIO: internal variability, solar forcing, and freshwater forcing.
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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