A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies
Open ocean deep convection contributes to the formation of the dense waters that fill the global deep ocean. The dynamics of post–convective vortices are key to understanding the role of convection in ocean circulation. Submesoscale coherent vortices (SCVs) observed in convective regions are likely...
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:68797 2023-07-30T04:03:46+02:00 A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies Oliver, K.I.C. Eldevik, T. Stevens, D.P. Watson, A.J. 2008-12 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/68797/ http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2F2008JPO3844.1 unknown Oliver, K.I.C., Eldevik, T., Stevens, D.P. and Watson, A.J. (2008) A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 38 (12), 2755-2771. (doi:10.1175/2008JPO3844.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3844.1>). Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3844.1 2023-07-09T21:06:17Z Open ocean deep convection contributes to the formation of the dense waters that fill the global deep ocean. The dynamics of post–convective vortices are key to understanding the role of convection in ocean circulation. Submesoscale coherent vortices (SCVs) observed in convective regions are likely to be the anticyclonic components of hetons. Hetons are dipoles, consisting of a surface cyclone and a weakly stratified subsurface anticyclone, that can be formed by convection. Here, key post-convective processes are investigated using numerical experiments of increasing sophistication, with two primary goals: (1) to understand how the ambient hydrography and topography influence the propagation of hetons; (2) to provide a theoretical context for recent observations of SCVs in the Greenland Sea. It is found that the alignment of hetons is controlled by ambient horizontal density gradients, and that hetons self-propagate into lighter waters as a result. This provides a mechanism for transporting convected water out of a cyclonic gyre, but the propagation is arrested if the heton meets large amplitude topography. Upon interaction with topography, hetons usually separate, and the surface cyclone returns towards denser water. The anti-cyclone usually remains close to topography and may become trapped for several hundred days. These findings may explain the observed accumulation and longevity of SCVs at the Greenland Fracture Zone, on the rim of the Greenland Sea gyre. The separation and sorting of cyclones from anticyclones have likely implications for the density and vorticity budgets of convective regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Greenland Sea University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Greenland Greenland Fracture Zone ENVELOPE(0.500,0.500,75.500,75.500) Journal of Physical Oceanography 38 12 2755 2771 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
unknown |
description |
Open ocean deep convection contributes to the formation of the dense waters that fill the global deep ocean. The dynamics of post–convective vortices are key to understanding the role of convection in ocean circulation. Submesoscale coherent vortices (SCVs) observed in convective regions are likely to be the anticyclonic components of hetons. Hetons are dipoles, consisting of a surface cyclone and a weakly stratified subsurface anticyclone, that can be formed by convection. Here, key post-convective processes are investigated using numerical experiments of increasing sophistication, with two primary goals: (1) to understand how the ambient hydrography and topography influence the propagation of hetons; (2) to provide a theoretical context for recent observations of SCVs in the Greenland Sea. It is found that the alignment of hetons is controlled by ambient horizontal density gradients, and that hetons self-propagate into lighter waters as a result. This provides a mechanism for transporting convected water out of a cyclonic gyre, but the propagation is arrested if the heton meets large amplitude topography. Upon interaction with topography, hetons usually separate, and the surface cyclone returns towards denser water. The anti-cyclone usually remains close to topography and may become trapped for several hundred days. These findings may explain the observed accumulation and longevity of SCVs at the Greenland Fracture Zone, on the rim of the Greenland Sea gyre. The separation and sorting of cyclones from anticyclones have likely implications for the density and vorticity budgets of convective regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oliver, K.I.C. Eldevik, T. Stevens, D.P. Watson, A.J. |
spellingShingle |
Oliver, K.I.C. Eldevik, T. Stevens, D.P. Watson, A.J. A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
author_facet |
Oliver, K.I.C. Eldevik, T. Stevens, D.P. Watson, A.J. |
author_sort |
Oliver, K.I.C. |
title |
A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
title_short |
A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
title_full |
A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
title_fullStr |
A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
title_sort |
greenland sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/68797/ http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2F2008JPO3844.1 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(0.500,0.500,75.500,75.500) |
geographic |
Greenland Greenland Fracture Zone |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Greenland Fracture Zone |
genre |
Greenland Greenland Sea |
genre_facet |
Greenland Greenland Sea |
op_relation |
Oliver, K.I.C., Eldevik, T., Stevens, D.P. and Watson, A.J. (2008) A Greenland Sea perspective on the dynamics of postconvective eddies. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 38 (12), 2755-2771. (doi:10.1175/2008JPO3844.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3844.1>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO3844.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2755 |
op_container_end_page |
2771 |
_version_ |
1772814863766126592 |