Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic
A long-standing problem in oceanography has been to understand the relationship between what can be measured in the ocean, such as hydrography, and what cannot, such as the strength and structure of the complete Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) of the world oceans, commonly considered the ma...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1956/2106 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 |
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/2106 2023-05-15T17:24:23+02:00 Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic Mauritzen, C. Hjøllo, Solfrid Sætre Sandø, Anne Britt 2006-08 919318 bytes application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/2106 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 eng eng American Geophysical Union urn:issn:0148-0227 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/2106 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union Journal of Geophysical Research 111 C8 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Oseanografi: 452 Journal article Peer reviewed 2006 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 2023-03-14T17:39:38Z A long-standing problem in oceanography has been to understand the relationship between what can be measured in the ocean, such as hydrography, and what cannot, such as the strength and structure of the complete Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) of the world oceans, commonly considered the main oceanic long-term modifier of Earth’s climate. With the aid of a 50 year simulation from a numerical ice-ocean model we have investigated this relationship in the area of the northernmost extension of the MOC, in the Subpolar and Nordic Seas, on interannual timescales. We find that variability in the northward flux of salt and temperature in this region is controlled almost entirely by the volume flux, confirming that a knowledge of the variability of the circulation strength proper is necessary. The simulated hydrographic anomalies are within the range observed in the 20th century, thus fundamental changes to the circulation were not expected nor found. It is seen that variability in either temperature or salinity does contain some information about the variability in current strength, because hydrography and circulation generally respond to the same atmospheric forcing in the North Atlantic sector. Whether it is temperature or salinity that contains the information is related to the parameter range of the equation of state at the location in question: if density depends primarily on temperature then a salinity anomaly will tend to survive and vice versa. The oceanic response involves hydrographic changes and propagation of these, gyre strength changes, and changes in the MOC. acceptedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Nordic Seas North Atlantic University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Journal of Geophysical Research 111 C8 |
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University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
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ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Oseanografi: 452 |
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VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Oseanografi: 452 Mauritzen, C. Hjøllo, Solfrid Sætre Sandø, Anne Britt Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Oseanografi: 452 |
description |
A long-standing problem in oceanography has been to understand the relationship between what can be measured in the ocean, such as hydrography, and what cannot, such as the strength and structure of the complete Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) of the world oceans, commonly considered the main oceanic long-term modifier of Earth’s climate. With the aid of a 50 year simulation from a numerical ice-ocean model we have investigated this relationship in the area of the northernmost extension of the MOC, in the Subpolar and Nordic Seas, on interannual timescales. We find that variability in the northward flux of salt and temperature in this region is controlled almost entirely by the volume flux, confirming that a knowledge of the variability of the circulation strength proper is necessary. The simulated hydrographic anomalies are within the range observed in the 20th century, thus fundamental changes to the circulation were not expected nor found. It is seen that variability in either temperature or salinity does contain some information about the variability in current strength, because hydrography and circulation generally respond to the same atmospheric forcing in the North Atlantic sector. Whether it is temperature or salinity that contains the information is related to the parameter range of the equation of state at the location in question: if density depends primarily on temperature then a salinity anomaly will tend to survive and vice versa. The oceanic response involves hydrographic changes and propagation of these, gyre strength changes, and changes in the MOC. acceptedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mauritzen, C. Hjøllo, Solfrid Sætre Sandø, Anne Britt |
author_facet |
Mauritzen, C. Hjøllo, Solfrid Sætre Sandø, Anne Britt |
author_sort |
Mauritzen, C. |
title |
Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
title_short |
Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
title_full |
Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern North Atlantic |
title_sort |
passive tracers and active dynamics - a model study of hydrography and circulation in the northern north atlantic |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/2106 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 |
genre |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research 111 C8 |
op_relation |
urn:issn:0148-0227 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/2106 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jc003252 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
111 |
container_issue |
C8 |
_version_ |
1766115365199282176 |