Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Diapycnal mixing shapes the distribution of climatically important tracers, such as heat and carbon, as these are carried by dense water masses in the ocean interior. Here, we analyze a suite of observation‐based estimates of diapycnal mixin...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/347251 2024-02-04T10:02:07+01:00 Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Cimoli, L Mashayek, A Johnson, HL Marshall, DP Naveira Garabato, AC Whalen, CB Vic, C de Lavergne, C Alford, MH MacKinnon, JA Talley, LD 2023-03-07T18:09:02Z application/pdf text/xml https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/347251 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.94666 en eng eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022av000800 AGU Advances https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/347251 doi:10.17863/CAM.94666 diapycnal mixing Atlantic Ocean tracer ventilation Article 2023 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.94666 2024-01-11T23:26:41Z <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Diapycnal mixing shapes the distribution of climatically important tracers, such as heat and carbon, as these are carried by dense water masses in the ocean interior. Here, we analyze a suite of observation‐based estimates of diapycnal mixing to assess its role within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The rate of water mass transformation in the Atlantic Ocean's interior shows that there is a robust buoyancy increase in the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW, neutral density <jats:italic>γ</jats:italic><jats:sup><jats:italic>n</jats:italic></jats:sup> ≃ 27.6–28.15), with a diapycnal circulation of 0.5–8 Sv between 48°N and 32°S in the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, tracers within the southward‐flowing NADW may undergo a substantial diapycnal transfer, equivalent to a vertical displacement of hundreds of meters in the vertical. This result, confirmed with a zonally averaged numerical model of the AMOC, indicates that mixing can alter where tracers upwell in the Southern Ocean, ultimately affecting their global pathways and ventilation timescales. These results point to the need for a realistic mixing representation in climate models in order to understand and credibly project the ongoing climate change.</jats:p> Article in Journal/Newspaper NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic Southern Ocean Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Southern Ocean |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
diapycnal mixing Atlantic Ocean tracer ventilation |
spellingShingle |
diapycnal mixing Atlantic Ocean tracer ventilation Cimoli, L Mashayek, A Johnson, HL Marshall, DP Naveira Garabato, AC Whalen, CB Vic, C de Lavergne, C Alford, MH MacKinnon, JA Talley, LD Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
topic_facet |
diapycnal mixing Atlantic Ocean tracer ventilation |
description |
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Diapycnal mixing shapes the distribution of climatically important tracers, such as heat and carbon, as these are carried by dense water masses in the ocean interior. Here, we analyze a suite of observation‐based estimates of diapycnal mixing to assess its role within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The rate of water mass transformation in the Atlantic Ocean's interior shows that there is a robust buoyancy increase in the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW, neutral density <jats:italic>γ</jats:italic><jats:sup><jats:italic>n</jats:italic></jats:sup> ≃ 27.6–28.15), with a diapycnal circulation of 0.5–8 Sv between 48°N and 32°S in the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, tracers within the southward‐flowing NADW may undergo a substantial diapycnal transfer, equivalent to a vertical displacement of hundreds of meters in the vertical. This result, confirmed with a zonally averaged numerical model of the AMOC, indicates that mixing can alter where tracers upwell in the Southern Ocean, ultimately affecting their global pathways and ventilation timescales. These results point to the need for a realistic mixing representation in climate models in order to understand and credibly project the ongoing climate change.</jats:p> |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cimoli, L Mashayek, A Johnson, HL Marshall, DP Naveira Garabato, AC Whalen, CB Vic, C de Lavergne, C Alford, MH MacKinnon, JA Talley, LD |
author_facet |
Cimoli, L Mashayek, A Johnson, HL Marshall, DP Naveira Garabato, AC Whalen, CB Vic, C de Lavergne, C Alford, MH MacKinnon, JA Talley, LD |
author_sort |
Cimoli, L |
title |
Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_short |
Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_full |
Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_fullStr |
Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Significance of Diapycnal Mixing Within the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_sort |
significance of diapycnal mixing within the atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/347251 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.94666 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/347251 doi:10.17863/CAM.94666 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.94666 |
_version_ |
1789968516175101952 |