Numerical Simulation of Precipitation Induced by Hot Mid-Ocean Ridges

• Main Author: Larry Vardiman Phd
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate; Climate Model; Global Climate Model; Hot Mid-Ocean Ridges; Hypercanes; Ice-age; Mid-ocean Ridges; Precipitation; Ridges; Sea-Surface Temperature; Greenland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.375.6945; http://www.icr.org/i/pdf/technical/Numerical-Simulation-Precipitation-Mid-Ocean-Ridges.pdf

A numerical global circulation model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research was used to simulate the wind and precipitation patterns caused by a hot sea-surface temperature over the current mid-ocean ridge locations. In three separate simulations the surface was maintained at 30 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C in a pattern similar to the mid-ocean ridges. The model was run at each temperature condition for a year of real time and the wind and precipitation patterns studied. Climate simulations for the three different mid-ocean ridge temperatures showed that increased temperatures lead to increased precipitation over and downwind of the ridge, increased horizontal wind speed in the lower atmosphere, decreased horizontal wind speed aloft, and an increase in the frequency of upward vertical velocity over the ridges. The rate of precipitation exceeded 20 mm/day over large portions of the ridges and was up to 80 mm/day in limited areas. It was greatest over Greenland and the North Atlantic south of Greenland. Precipitation also extended over portions of the ocean away from the ridges, toward polar regions, and into continental areas, particularly near the equator. Precipitation rates and the area of coverage increased globally as the ridge temperature was increased. The effects appear to match many of the expectations from the Scriptures and inferred distributions of snow and ice coverage during the “Ice Age.”