The Heton, an Elementary Interaction Between Discrete Baroclinic Geostrophic Vortices, and Its Implications Concerning Eddy Heat-Flow

TLDR: In this article, a simple two-heton engine that exhibits vortex splitting, loss of available potential energy, and meridional heat transport is presented, which is a simplified version of the one presented in this paper.

Abstract: Among the interactions of two discrete baroclinic geostrophic vortices in a two-layer system there is one class of interaction that is non-trivial; when the two vortices are of opposite sign and in different layers, and close enough together, they transport heat. Because this particular interaction can transport heat, we propose to call it the heton. It is a tilted baroclinic pair. In the Northern Hemisphere it transports heat to the left of the direction toward which its top tilts. Two warm or two cold hetons repel one another when outside the radius of deformation. A warm and a cold heton attract one another. A simple two-heton engine that exhibits vortex splitting, loss of available potential energy, and meridional heat transport is presented.