Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process term...
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ftunivreading:oai:centaur.reading.ac.uk:68869 2024-06-23T07:47:10+00:00 Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Marshall, David Philip Ambaum, Maarten H. P. Maddison, James R. Munday, David. R. Novakova, Lenka 2017-01-16 text https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/1/mammn17.pdf en eng Wiley https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/1/mammn17.pdf Marshall, D. P. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90003362.html>, Ambaum, M. H. P. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000224.html> orcid:0000-0002-6824-8083 , Maddison, J. R., Munday, D. R. and Novakova, L. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90007266.html> (2017) Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (1). pp. 286-292. ISSN 0094-8276 doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702> cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivreading https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702 2024-06-11T15:05:53Z The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process termed “eddy saturation.” Here a simple model is presented that explains the physics of eddy saturation with three ingredients: a momentum budget, a relation between the eddy form stress and eddy energy, and an eddy energy budget. The model explains both the insensitivity of circumpolar volume transport to surface wind stress and the increase of eddy energy with wind stress. The model further predicts that circumpolar transport increases with increased bottom friction, a counterintuitive result that is confirmed in eddy-permitting calculations. These results suggest an unexpected and important impact of eddy energy dissipation, through bottom drag or lee wave generation, on ocean stratification, ocean heat content, and potentially atmospheric CO2. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading Antarctic The Antarctic Geophysical Research Letters 44 1 286 292 |
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Open Polar |
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CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading |
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ftunivreading |
language |
English |
description |
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process termed “eddy saturation.” Here a simple model is presented that explains the physics of eddy saturation with three ingredients: a momentum budget, a relation between the eddy form stress and eddy energy, and an eddy energy budget. The model explains both the insensitivity of circumpolar volume transport to surface wind stress and the increase of eddy energy with wind stress. The model further predicts that circumpolar transport increases with increased bottom friction, a counterintuitive result that is confirmed in eddy-permitting calculations. These results suggest an unexpected and important impact of eddy energy dissipation, through bottom drag or lee wave generation, on ocean stratification, ocean heat content, and potentially atmospheric CO2. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marshall, David Philip Ambaum, Maarten H. P. Maddison, James R. Munday, David. R. Novakova, Lenka |
spellingShingle |
Marshall, David Philip Ambaum, Maarten H. P. Maddison, James R. Munday, David. R. Novakova, Lenka Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
author_facet |
Marshall, David Philip Ambaum, Maarten H. P. Maddison, James R. Munday, David. R. Novakova, Lenka |
author_sort |
Marshall, David Philip |
title |
Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
title_short |
Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
title_full |
Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
title_fullStr |
Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
title_sort |
eddy saturation and frictional control of the antarctic circumpolar current |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/1/mammn17.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/68869/1/mammn17.pdf Marshall, D. P. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90003362.html>, Ambaum, M. H. P. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000224.html> orcid:0000-0002-6824-8083 , Maddison, J. R., Munday, D. R. and Novakova, L. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90007266.html> (2017) Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (1). pp. 286-292. ISSN 0094-8276 doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071702 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
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44 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
286 |
op_container_end_page |
292 |
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1802651258246397952 |