The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth
To understand the three-dimensional ocean circulation patterns that have occurred in past continental geometries, it is crucial to study the role of the present-day continental geometry and surface (wind stress and buoyancy) forcing on the present-day global ocean circulation. This circulation, ofte...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:beef0532d9094bc99640ecc3c5059757 2023-05-15T17:35:00+02:00 The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth V. Kamphuis S. E. Huisman H. A. Dijkstra 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 https://doaj.org/article/beef0532d9094bc99640ecc3c5059757 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/7/487/2011/cp-7-487-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/beef0532d9094bc99640ecc3c5059757 Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 487-499 (2011) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 2022-12-31T12:44:10Z To understand the three-dimensional ocean circulation patterns that have occurred in past continental geometries, it is crucial to study the role of the present-day continental geometry and surface (wind stress and buoyancy) forcing on the present-day global ocean circulation. This circulation, often referred to as the Conveyor state, is characterised by an Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) with a deep water formation at northern latitudes and the absence of such a deep water formation in the North Pacific. This MOC asymmetry is often attributed to the difference in surface freshwater flux: the Atlantic as a whole is a basin with net evaporation, while the Pacific receives net precipitation. This issue is revisited in this paper by considering the global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth, computing an equilibrium state of the coupled atmosphere-ocean-land surface-sea ice model CCSM3. The Atlantic-Pacific asymmetry in surface freshwater flux is indeed reversed, but the ocean circulation pattern is not an Inverse Conveyor state (with deep water formation in the North Pacific) as there is relatively weak but intermittently strong deep water formation in the North Atlantic. Using a fully-implicit, global ocean-only model the stability properties of the Atlantic MOC on a retrograde rotating earth are also investigated, showing a similar regime of multiple equilibria as in the present-day case. These results indicate that the present-day asymmetry in surface freshwater flux is not the most important factor setting the Atlantic-Pacific salinity difference and, thereby, the asymmetry in the global MOC. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Climate of the Past 7 2 487 499 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 V. Kamphuis S. E. Huisman H. A. Dijkstra The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
To understand the three-dimensional ocean circulation patterns that have occurred in past continental geometries, it is crucial to study the role of the present-day continental geometry and surface (wind stress and buoyancy) forcing on the present-day global ocean circulation. This circulation, often referred to as the Conveyor state, is characterised by an Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) with a deep water formation at northern latitudes and the absence of such a deep water formation in the North Pacific. This MOC asymmetry is often attributed to the difference in surface freshwater flux: the Atlantic as a whole is a basin with net evaporation, while the Pacific receives net precipitation. This issue is revisited in this paper by considering the global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth, computing an equilibrium state of the coupled atmosphere-ocean-land surface-sea ice model CCSM3. The Atlantic-Pacific asymmetry in surface freshwater flux is indeed reversed, but the ocean circulation pattern is not an Inverse Conveyor state (with deep water formation in the North Pacific) as there is relatively weak but intermittently strong deep water formation in the North Atlantic. Using a fully-implicit, global ocean-only model the stability properties of the Atlantic MOC on a retrograde rotating earth are also investigated, showing a similar regime of multiple equilibria as in the present-day case. These results indicate that the present-day asymmetry in surface freshwater flux is not the most important factor setting the Atlantic-Pacific salinity difference and, thereby, the asymmetry in the global MOC. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
V. Kamphuis S. E. Huisman H. A. Dijkstra |
author_facet |
V. Kamphuis S. E. Huisman H. A. Dijkstra |
author_sort |
V. Kamphuis |
title |
The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
title_short |
The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
title_full |
The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
title_fullStr |
The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
title_full_unstemmed |
The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
title_sort |
global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 https://doaj.org/article/beef0532d9094bc99640ecc3c5059757 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 487-499 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/7/487/2011/cp-7-487-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/beef0532d9094bc99640ecc3c5059757 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-487-2011 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
487 |
op_container_end_page |
499 |
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1766134009008488448 |