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
Why is the AMOC Monostable in Coupled General Circulation Models
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether the monostable behavior of the coupled general circulation models is caused by a bias of model surface climatology, and they found that a reduction of the surface salinity biases in the tropical and northern North Atlantic leads to a reduction in the bias of freshwater transport in the Atlantic.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Mechanisms of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Slowdown Induced by Arctic Sea Ice Decline
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the mechanisms by which Arctic sea ice decline affects the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) in a suite of numerical experiments perturbing the Arctic Sea ice.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cold vs. warm water route – sources for the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation revisited in a high-resolution ocean model
TL;DR: In this paper, Lagrangian particle trajectories of the Agulhas Current and the North Brazil Current were analyzed in a realistically forced high-resolution (1∕20 ∘ ) ocean model.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sensitivity of modern climate to the presence, strength and salinity of Mediterranean-Atlantic exchange in a global general circulation model
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of changes in Mediterranean-Atlantic exchange on global ocean circulation and climate was examined using a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, and the results suggest that MOW strengthens and possibly stabilises the AMOC not through any contribution towards NADW formation, but by delivering relatively warm, saline water to southbound Atlantic currents below 800 m.
Journal ArticleDOI
The glacial thermohaline circulation: Stable or unstable?
TL;DR: In this paper, the stability of the thermohaline circulation (THC) with respect to North Atlantic freshwater input was examined using a global ocean general circulation model, and it was found that the quasi-equilibrium hysteresis behaviour is much less pronounced under glacial conditions than under present-day conditions, and the existence of multiple equilibria requires an anomalous freshwater inflow.
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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