Multidecadal preconditioning of the Maud Rise polynya region

In this paper, we consider Maud Rise polynya formation in a long (250-year) high-resolution (ocean 0.1 ∘ , atmosphere 0.5 ∘ horizontal model resolution) of the Community Earth System Model. We find a dominant multidecadal timescale in the occurrence of these Maud Rise polynyas. Analysis of the resul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ocean Science
Main Authors: Westen, René M., Dijkstra, Henk A.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Maud Rise
Southern Ocean
Weddell
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1443-2020
https://os.copernicus.org/articles/16/1443/2020/
Description
Summary:In this paper, we consider Maud Rise polynya formation in a long (250-year) high-resolution (ocean 0.1 ∘ , atmosphere 0.5 ∘ horizontal model resolution) of the Community Earth System Model. We find a dominant multidecadal timescale in the occurrence of these Maud Rise polynyas. Analysis of the results leads us to the interpretation that a preferred timescale can be induced by the variability of the Weddell Gyre, previously identified as the Southern Ocean Mode. The large-scale pattern of heat content variability associated with the Southern Ocean Mode modifies the stratification in the Maud Rise region and leads to a preferred timescale in convection through preconditioning of the subsurface density and consequently to polynya formation.

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