North Atlantic MOC variability and the Mediterranean Outflow: A box-model study

A simple box-model is used to investigate the effect of intermediate level heat/freshwater fluxes on the variability of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation. The model includes a simple representation of the spreading of the Mediterranean Outflow Water in the North Atlantic. We identify an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
Main Authors: Vincenzo Artale, Alfonso Sutera, Sandro Calmanti
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2006
Subjects:
NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community
Atmospheric Science
Oceanography
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/104261
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2006.00176.x
Description
Summary:A simple box-model is used to investigate the effect of intermediate level heat/freshwater fluxes on the variability of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation. The model includes a simple representation of the spreading of the Mediterranean Outflow Water in the North Atlantic. We identify an internal advective feedback affecting the amplitude of the thermohaline oscillations. When a salinity gradient is maintained in the ocean interior the oscillations are amplified. Instead, if the intermediate level fluxes are spread in the ocean deep layers, the model variability is reduced. We suggest that this mechanism may be relevant for climate variability on interdecadal timescales.

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