Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective
“Eddy saturation” is the regime in which the total time-mean volume transport of an oceanic current is relatively insensitive to the wind stress forcing and is often invoked as a dynamical description of Southern Ocean circulation. We revisit the problem of eddy saturation using a primitive equation...
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ftanucanberra:oai:openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au:1885/206415 2024-01-14T10:10:50+01:00 Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective Constantinou, Navid Hogg, Andy application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1885/206415 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084117 https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/206415/3/01_Constantinou_Eddy_Saturation_of_the_2019.pdf.jpg en_AU eng American Geophysical Union 0094-8276 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/206415 doi:10.1029/2019GL084117 https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/206415/3/01_Constantinou_Eddy_Saturation_of_the_2019.pdf.jpg © 2019. American Geophysical Union. Geophysical Research Letters Journal article ftanucanberra https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084117 2023-12-15T09:37:43Z “Eddy saturation” is the regime in which the total time-mean volume transport of an oceanic current is relatively insensitive to the wind stress forcing and is often invoked as a dynamical description of Southern Ocean circulation. We revisit the problem of eddy saturation using a primitive equations model in an idealized channel setup with bathymetry. We apply only mechanical wind stress forcing; there is no diapycnal mixing or surface buoyancy forcing. Our main aim is to assess the relative importance of two mechanisms for producing eddy-saturated states: (i) the commonly invoked baroclinic mechanism that involves the competition of sloping isopycnals and restratification by production of baroclinic eddies and (ii) the barotropic mechanism that involves production of eddies through lateral shear instabilities or through the interaction of the barotropic current with bathymetric features. Our results suggest that the barotropic flow component plays a crucial role in determining the total volume transport. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections Southern Ocean Geophysical Research Letters 46 21 12202 12212 |
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Open Polar |
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Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections |
op_collection_id |
ftanucanberra |
language |
English |
description |
“Eddy saturation” is the regime in which the total time-mean volume transport of an oceanic current is relatively insensitive to the wind stress forcing and is often invoked as a dynamical description of Southern Ocean circulation. We revisit the problem of eddy saturation using a primitive equations model in an idealized channel setup with bathymetry. We apply only mechanical wind stress forcing; there is no diapycnal mixing or surface buoyancy forcing. Our main aim is to assess the relative importance of two mechanisms for producing eddy-saturated states: (i) the commonly invoked baroclinic mechanism that involves the competition of sloping isopycnals and restratification by production of baroclinic eddies and (ii) the barotropic mechanism that involves production of eddies through lateral shear instabilities or through the interaction of the barotropic current with bathymetric features. Our results suggest that the barotropic flow component plays a crucial role in determining the total volume transport. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Constantinou, Navid Hogg, Andy |
spellingShingle |
Constantinou, Navid Hogg, Andy Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
author_facet |
Constantinou, Navid Hogg, Andy |
author_sort |
Constantinou, Navid |
title |
Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
title_short |
Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
title_full |
Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
title_fullStr |
Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eddy Saturation of the Southern Ocean: A Baroclinic Versus Barotropic Perspective |
title_sort |
eddy saturation of the southern ocean: a baroclinic versus barotropic perspective |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1885/206415 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084117 https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/206415/3/01_Constantinou_Eddy_Saturation_of_the_2019.pdf.jpg |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Geophysical Research Letters |
op_relation |
0094-8276 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/206415 doi:10.1029/2019GL084117 https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/206415/3/01_Constantinou_Eddy_Saturation_of_the_2019.pdf.jpg |
op_rights |
© 2019. American Geophysical Union. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084117 |
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Geophysical Research Letters |
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46 |
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21 |
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12202 |
op_container_end_page |
12212 |
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1788065677712556032 |