Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific
AbstractThe surface salinity in the North Atlantic controls the position of the sinking branch of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC); the North Atlantic has higher salinity, so deep-water formation occurs there rather than in the North Pacific. Here, it is shown that in a 3D primitive equa...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt17s8p0n3 2023-05-15T17:30:54+02:00 Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific Jones, CS Cessi, Paola 2843 - 2859 2017-11-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/17s8p0n3 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt17s8p0n3 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/17s8p0n3 public Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol 47, iss 11 Oceanography Maritime Engineering article 2017 ftcdlib 2023-02-06T18:40:57Z AbstractThe surface salinity in the North Atlantic controls the position of the sinking branch of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC); the North Atlantic has higher salinity, so deep-water formation occurs there rather than in the North Pacific. Here, it is shown that in a 3D primitive equation model of two basins of different widths connected by a reentrant channel, there is a preference for sinking in the narrow basin even under zonally uniform surface forcing. This preference is linked to the details of the velocity and salinity fields in the “sinking” basin. The southward western boundary current associated with the wind-driven subpolar gyre has higher velocity in the wide basin than in the narrow basin. It overwhelms the northward western boundary current associated with the MOC for wide-basin sinking, so freshwater is brought from the far north of the domain southward and forms a pool on the western boundary in the wide basin. The fresh pool suppresses local convection and spreads eastward, leading to low salinities in the north of the wide basin for wide-basin sinking. This pool of freshwater is much less prominent in the narrow basin for narrow-basin sinking, where the northward MOC western boundary current overcomes the southward western boundary current associated with the wind-driven subpolar gyre, bringing salty water from lower latitudes northward and enabling deep-water mass formation. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic University of California: eScholarship Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Oceanography Maritime Engineering |
spellingShingle |
Oceanography Maritime Engineering Jones, CS Cessi, Paola Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
topic_facet |
Oceanography Maritime Engineering |
description |
AbstractThe surface salinity in the North Atlantic controls the position of the sinking branch of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC); the North Atlantic has higher salinity, so deep-water formation occurs there rather than in the North Pacific. Here, it is shown that in a 3D primitive equation model of two basins of different widths connected by a reentrant channel, there is a preference for sinking in the narrow basin even under zonally uniform surface forcing. This preference is linked to the details of the velocity and salinity fields in the “sinking” basin. The southward western boundary current associated with the wind-driven subpolar gyre has higher velocity in the wide basin than in the narrow basin. It overwhelms the northward western boundary current associated with the MOC for wide-basin sinking, so freshwater is brought from the far north of the domain southward and forms a pool on the western boundary in the wide basin. The fresh pool suppresses local convection and spreads eastward, leading to low salinities in the north of the wide basin for wide-basin sinking. This pool of freshwater is much less prominent in the narrow basin for narrow-basin sinking, where the northward MOC western boundary current overcomes the southward western boundary current associated with the wind-driven subpolar gyre, bringing salty water from lower latitudes northward and enabling deep-water mass formation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jones, CS Cessi, Paola |
author_facet |
Jones, CS Cessi, Paola |
author_sort |
Jones, CS |
title |
Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
title_short |
Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
title_full |
Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
title_fullStr |
Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
title_full_unstemmed |
Size Matters: Another Reason Why the Atlantic Is Saltier than the Pacific |
title_sort |
size matters: another reason why the atlantic is saltier than the pacific |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/17s8p0n3 |
op_coverage |
2843 - 2859 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol 47, iss 11 |
op_relation |
qt17s8p0n3 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/17s8p0n3 |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766128033988608000 |