On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean
In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the...
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American Meteorological Society
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/91277 2023-06-11T04:05:42+02:00 On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele 2013-11 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 en_US eng American Meteorological Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0206.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 Stewart, Andrew L., Raffaele Ferrari, and Andrew F. Thompson. “On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 3 (March 2014): 891–899. © 2014 American Meteorological Society orcid:0000-0002-3736-1956 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. American Meteorological Society Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2013 ftmit https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0206.1 2023-05-29T08:19:56Z In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the ocean. The oceanographic community's conceptual understanding of the deep stratification and MOC has evolved from classic “abyssal recipes” arguments to a more recent appreciation of along-isopycnal upwelling in the Southern Ocean, consistent with a weakly mixed ocean interior. Both the deep stratification and the deep MOC are shown here to be sensitive to the form of the surface buoyancy forcing in a two-dimensional model that includes a circumpolar channel and northern basin. For a fixed surface buoyancy condition, the deep stratification is essentially prescribed, whereas for a fixed surface buoyancy flux, the deep stratification varies by orders of magnitude over the range of diapycnal diffusivity κ observed in the ocean. These cases also produce different scalings for the deep MOC with κ, in both weak and strong κ regimes. In addition, these scalings are shown to be sensitive not only to the type of surface boundary condition, but also to the latitudinal structure of the surface fluxes. This latter point is crucial as buoyancy budgets and dynamical features of the circulation are poorly constrained along the Antarctic margins. This study emphasizes the need for caution in the interpretation of simple conceptual models that, while useful, may not include all mechanisms that contribute to the MOC’s strength and structure. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award OCE-1232962) Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Physical Oceanography 44 3 891 899 |
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Open Polar |
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DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the ocean. The oceanographic community's conceptual understanding of the deep stratification and MOC has evolved from classic “abyssal recipes” arguments to a more recent appreciation of along-isopycnal upwelling in the Southern Ocean, consistent with a weakly mixed ocean interior. Both the deep stratification and the deep MOC are shown here to be sensitive to the form of the surface buoyancy forcing in a two-dimensional model that includes a circumpolar channel and northern basin. For a fixed surface buoyancy condition, the deep stratification is essentially prescribed, whereas for a fixed surface buoyancy flux, the deep stratification varies by orders of magnitude over the range of diapycnal diffusivity κ observed in the ocean. These cases also produce different scalings for the deep MOC with κ, in both weak and strong κ regimes. In addition, these scalings are shown to be sensitive not only to the type of surface boundary condition, but also to the latitudinal structure of the surface fluxes. This latter point is crucial as buoyancy budgets and dynamical features of the circulation are poorly constrained along the Antarctic margins. This study emphasizes the need for caution in the interpretation of simple conceptual models that, while useful, may not include all mechanisms that contribute to the MOC’s strength and structure. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award OCE-1232962) |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. |
spellingShingle |
Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
author_facet |
Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. |
author_sort |
Stewart, Andrew L. |
title |
On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
title_short |
On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
title_full |
On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
title_fullStr |
On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
title_sort |
on the importance of surface forcing in conceptual models of the deep ocean |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
American Meteorological Society |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0206.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 Stewart, Andrew L., Raffaele Ferrari, and Andrew F. Thompson. “On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 3 (March 2014): 891–899. © 2014 American Meteorological Society orcid:0000-0002-3736-1956 |
op_rights |
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0206.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
891 |
op_container_end_page |
899 |
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1768377293869154304 |