The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The Southern Ocean features ventilation pathways that transport surface waters into the subsurface thermocline on time scales from decades to centuries, sequestering anomalies of heat and carbon away from the atmosphere and thereby regulatin...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/302741 2024-01-14T10:02:06+01:00 The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties Jones, DC Boland, E Meijers, AJS Forget, G Josey, S Sallée, JB Shuckburgh, E 2020 application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/302741 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.49812 eng eng American Meteorological Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-19-0155.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/302741 doi:10.17863/CAM.49812 All rights reserved South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean Advection Inverse methods Ocean models Interannual variability Article 2020 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.49812 2023-12-21T23:21:23Z <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The Southern Ocean features ventilation pathways that transport surface waters into the subsurface thermocline on time scales from decades to centuries, sequestering anomalies of heat and carbon away from the atmosphere and thereby regulating the rate of surface warming. Despite its importance for climate sensitivity, the factors that control the distribution of heat along these pathways are not well understood. In this study, we use an observationally constrained, physically consistent global ocean model to examine the sensitivity of heat distribution in the recently ventilated subsurface Pacific (RVP) sector of the Southern Ocean to changes in ocean temperature and salinity. First, we define the RVP using numerical passive tracer release experiments that highlight the ventilation pathways. Next, we use an ensemble of adjoint sensitivity experiments to quantify the sensitivity of the RVP heat content to changes in ocean temperature and salinity. In terms of sensitivities to surface ocean properties, we find that RVP heat content is most sensitive to anomalies along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), upstream of the subduction hotspots. In terms of sensitivities to subsurface ocean properties, we find that RVP heat content is most sensitive to basin-scale changes in the subtropical Pacific Ocean, around the same latitudes as the RVP. Despite the localized nature of mode water subduction hotspots, changes in basin-scale density gradients are an important controlling factor on heat distribution in the southeast Pacific.</jats:p> Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Antarctic Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean Advection Inverse methods Ocean models Interannual variability |
spellingShingle |
South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean Advection Inverse methods Ocean models Interannual variability Jones, DC Boland, E Meijers, AJS Forget, G Josey, S Sallée, JB Shuckburgh, E The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
topic_facet |
South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean Advection Inverse methods Ocean models Interannual variability |
description |
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The Southern Ocean features ventilation pathways that transport surface waters into the subsurface thermocline on time scales from decades to centuries, sequestering anomalies of heat and carbon away from the atmosphere and thereby regulating the rate of surface warming. Despite its importance for climate sensitivity, the factors that control the distribution of heat along these pathways are not well understood. In this study, we use an observationally constrained, physically consistent global ocean model to examine the sensitivity of heat distribution in the recently ventilated subsurface Pacific (RVP) sector of the Southern Ocean to changes in ocean temperature and salinity. First, we define the RVP using numerical passive tracer release experiments that highlight the ventilation pathways. Next, we use an ensemble of adjoint sensitivity experiments to quantify the sensitivity of the RVP heat content to changes in ocean temperature and salinity. In terms of sensitivities to surface ocean properties, we find that RVP heat content is most sensitive to anomalies along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), upstream of the subduction hotspots. In terms of sensitivities to subsurface ocean properties, we find that RVP heat content is most sensitive to basin-scale changes in the subtropical Pacific Ocean, around the same latitudes as the RVP. Despite the localized nature of mode water subduction hotspots, changes in basin-scale density gradients are an important controlling factor on heat distribution in the southeast Pacific.</jats:p> |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jones, DC Boland, E Meijers, AJS Forget, G Josey, S Sallée, JB Shuckburgh, E |
author_facet |
Jones, DC Boland, E Meijers, AJS Forget, G Josey, S Sallée, JB Shuckburgh, E |
author_sort |
Jones, DC |
title |
The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
title_short |
The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
title_full |
The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
title_fullStr |
The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
title_full_unstemmed |
The sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
title_sort |
sensitivity of southeast pacific heat distribution to local and remote changes in ocean properties |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/302741 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.49812 |
geographic |
Antarctic Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pacific Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/302741 doi:10.17863/CAM.49812 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.49812 |
_version_ |
1788056951733616640 |