Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System
The flow of subtropical waters carried into the northern North Atlantic Ocean by the North Atlantic Current– subpolar front system (NAC–SPF) is an important component of the meridional overturning circulation. These waters become colder and denser as they flow through the subpolar region, both by mi...
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ftunivrhodeislan:oai:digitalcommons.uri.edu:gsofacpubs-1374 2023-07-30T04:05:05+02:00 Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System Pérez-Brunius, Paula Rossby, Tom Watss, D. Randolph 2004-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/339 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1374/viewcontent/Rossby_Watts_AbsoluteTransports_2004.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@URI https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/339 doi:10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1374/viewcontent/Rossby_Watts_AbsoluteTransports_2004.pdf Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications text 2004 ftunivrhodeislan https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 2023-07-17T18:56:57Z The flow of subtropical waters carried into the northern North Atlantic Ocean by the North Atlantic Current– subpolar front system (NAC–SPF) is an important component of the meridional overturning circulation. These waters become colder and denser as they flow through the subpolar region, both by mixing with the colder subpolar waters and by atmospheric cooling. The relative roles of these two processes remain to be quantified, and the mechanisms driving lateral mixing need to be better understood. To address those questions, a new methodology is developed to estimate the mean absolute transports of mass and heat for the top 1000 dbar in the region of the NAC–SPF for the time period 1993–2000. The transports are obtained by combining historical hydrography with isopycnal RAFOS float data from the area. The mean absolute transport potential field shows an NAC–SPF “pipe,” defined by two bounding transport potential contours. This pipe transports 10.0 ± 3.5 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) (top 1000 dbar) from the subtropics into the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. In contrast to earlier studies, the northward-flowing NAC follows a distinct meandering path, with no evidence of permanent branches peeling off the current before reaching the “Northwest Corner.” As the current enters the Northwest Corner, it loses its tight structure and maybe splits into two or more branches, which together constitute the eastward flow along the SPF. The eastward flow between the Northwest Corner and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is not as tightly defined because of the meandering and/or eddy shedding of the branches constituing the SPF. As the flow approaches the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it converges to cross above the Charlie–Gibbs and Faraday Fracture Zones. The mean absolute temperature transport (top 1000 dbar) by the 10-Sv pipe was estimated across 10 transects crossing the NAC–SPF. Because the mean mass flux is constant in the pipe, variations in the mean temperature transports result from lateral exchange and mixing across the pipe's side walls and ... Text north atlantic current North Atlantic University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI Faraday ENVELOPE(-64.256,-64.256,-65.246,-65.246) Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrhodeislan |
language |
unknown |
description |
The flow of subtropical waters carried into the northern North Atlantic Ocean by the North Atlantic Current– subpolar front system (NAC–SPF) is an important component of the meridional overturning circulation. These waters become colder and denser as they flow through the subpolar region, both by mixing with the colder subpolar waters and by atmospheric cooling. The relative roles of these two processes remain to be quantified, and the mechanisms driving lateral mixing need to be better understood. To address those questions, a new methodology is developed to estimate the mean absolute transports of mass and heat for the top 1000 dbar in the region of the NAC–SPF for the time period 1993–2000. The transports are obtained by combining historical hydrography with isopycnal RAFOS float data from the area. The mean absolute transport potential field shows an NAC–SPF “pipe,” defined by two bounding transport potential contours. This pipe transports 10.0 ± 3.5 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) (top 1000 dbar) from the subtropics into the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. In contrast to earlier studies, the northward-flowing NAC follows a distinct meandering path, with no evidence of permanent branches peeling off the current before reaching the “Northwest Corner.” As the current enters the Northwest Corner, it loses its tight structure and maybe splits into two or more branches, which together constitute the eastward flow along the SPF. The eastward flow between the Northwest Corner and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is not as tightly defined because of the meandering and/or eddy shedding of the branches constituing the SPF. As the flow approaches the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it converges to cross above the Charlie–Gibbs and Faraday Fracture Zones. The mean absolute temperature transport (top 1000 dbar) by the 10-Sv pipe was estimated across 10 transects crossing the NAC–SPF. Because the mean mass flux is constant in the pipe, variations in the mean temperature transports result from lateral exchange and mixing across the pipe's side walls and ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Pérez-Brunius, Paula Rossby, Tom Watss, D. Randolph |
spellingShingle |
Pérez-Brunius, Paula Rossby, Tom Watss, D. Randolph Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
author_facet |
Pérez-Brunius, Paula Rossby, Tom Watss, D. Randolph |
author_sort |
Pérez-Brunius, Paula |
title |
Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
title_short |
Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
title_full |
Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
title_fullStr |
Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
title_full_unstemmed |
Absolute Transports of Mass and Temperature for the North Atlantic Current– Subpolar Front System |
title_sort |
absolute transports of mass and temperature for the north atlantic current– subpolar front system |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@URI |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/339 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1374/viewcontent/Rossby_Watts_AbsoluteTransports_2004.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.256,-64.256,-65.246,-65.246) |
geographic |
Faraday Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
geographic_facet |
Faraday Mid-Atlantic Ridge |
genre |
north atlantic current North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
north atlantic current North Atlantic |
op_source |
Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/339 doi:10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1374/viewcontent/Rossby_Watts_AbsoluteTransports_2004.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<1870:ATOMAT>2.0.CO;2 |
_version_ |
1772816803071787008 |