Stability of the thermohaline circulation in a simple coupled model
In an analytical study the stability of the thermohaline circulation with respect to freshwater perturbations in high latitudes is investigated. The study is based on a coupled ocean and atmosphere box model in an idealized North Atlantic geometry. The box model provides a qualitative understanding...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
1996
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/1987/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.12578 |
| Summary: | In an analytical study the stability of the thermohaline circulation with respect to freshwater perturbations in high latitudes is investigated. The study is based on a coupled ocean and atmosphere box model in an idealized North Atlantic geometry. The box model provides a qualitative understanding of how the thermohaline circulation is affected by feedback mechanisms associated with changes in atmospheric transports of heat and moisture. Within a linear analysis we examine the stability of the thermohaline circulation for a range of different atmospheric boundary conditions. The stability of the coupled system depends on the imposed transport parameterizations and the basic state. For the underlying non-linear system we examine the sensitivity with respect to the strength of salinity perturbation. |
|---|