Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres
Horizontal transport at the boundaries of the subtropical gyres plays a crucial role in providing the nutrients that fuel gyre primary productivity, the heat that helps restratify the surface mixed layer, and the dissolved inorganic carbon that influences airâ€sea carbon exchange. Mesoscale eddies m...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
DigitalCommons@URI
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/520 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013969 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1506/viewcontent/Palter_RolesOfTheOcean_2018.pdf |
id |
ftunivrhodeislan:oai:digitalcommons.uri.edu:gsofacpubs-1506 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivrhodeislan:oai:digitalcommons.uri.edu:gsofacpubs-1506 2024-09-15T18:23:49+00:00 Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres Yamamoto, Ayako Palter, Jaime B. Dufour, Carolina O. Griffies, Stephen M. Bianchi, Daniele Claret, Mariona Dunne, John P. Frenger, Ivy Galbraith, Eric D. 2018-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/520 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013969 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1506/viewcontent/Palter_RolesOfTheOcean_2018.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@URI https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/520 doi:10.1029/2018JC013969 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1506/viewcontent/Palter_RolesOfTheOcean_2018.pdf Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications text 2018 ftunivrhodeislan https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013969 2024-08-21T00:09:33Z Horizontal transport at the boundaries of the subtropical gyres plays a crucial role in providing the nutrients that fuel gyre primary productivity, the heat that helps restratify the surface mixed layer, and the dissolved inorganic carbon that influences airâ€sea carbon exchange. Mesoscale eddies may be an important component of these horizontal transports; however, previous studies have not quantified the horizontal tracer transport due to eddies across the subtropical gyre boundaries. Here we assess the physical mechanisms that control the horizontal transport of mass, heat, nutrients, and carbon across the North Pacific and North Atlantic subtropical gyre boundaries using the eddyâ€rich ocean component of a climate model (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Climate Model version 2.6) coupled to a simple biogeochemical model (miniâ€BLING). Our results suggest that horizontal transport across the gyre boundaries supplies a substantial amount of mass and tracers to the ventilated layer of both Northern Hemisphere subtropical gyres, with the Kuroshio and Gulf Stream acting as main exchange gateways. Mass, heat, and dissolved inorganic carbon supply is principally driven by the timeâ€mean circulation, whereas nutrient transport differs markedly from the other tracers, as nutrients are mainly supplied to both subtropical gyres by downgradient eddy mixing across gyre boundaries. A budget analysis further reveals that the horizontal nutrient transport, combining the roles of both mean and eddy components, is responsible for more than three quarters of the total nutrient supply into the subtropical gyres, surpassing a recent estimate based on a coarseâ€resolution model and thus further highlighting the importance of horizontal nutrient transport. Text North Atlantic University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123 10 7016 7036 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrhodeislan |
language |
unknown |
description |
Horizontal transport at the boundaries of the subtropical gyres plays a crucial role in providing the nutrients that fuel gyre primary productivity, the heat that helps restratify the surface mixed layer, and the dissolved inorganic carbon that influences airâ€sea carbon exchange. Mesoscale eddies may be an important component of these horizontal transports; however, previous studies have not quantified the horizontal tracer transport due to eddies across the subtropical gyre boundaries. Here we assess the physical mechanisms that control the horizontal transport of mass, heat, nutrients, and carbon across the North Pacific and North Atlantic subtropical gyre boundaries using the eddyâ€rich ocean component of a climate model (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Climate Model version 2.6) coupled to a simple biogeochemical model (miniâ€BLING). Our results suggest that horizontal transport across the gyre boundaries supplies a substantial amount of mass and tracers to the ventilated layer of both Northern Hemisphere subtropical gyres, with the Kuroshio and Gulf Stream acting as main exchange gateways. Mass, heat, and dissolved inorganic carbon supply is principally driven by the timeâ€mean circulation, whereas nutrient transport differs markedly from the other tracers, as nutrients are mainly supplied to both subtropical gyres by downgradient eddy mixing across gyre boundaries. A budget analysis further reveals that the horizontal nutrient transport, combining the roles of both mean and eddy components, is responsible for more than three quarters of the total nutrient supply into the subtropical gyres, surpassing a recent estimate based on a coarseâ€resolution model and thus further highlighting the importance of horizontal nutrient transport. |
format |
Text |
author |
Yamamoto, Ayako Palter, Jaime B. Dufour, Carolina O. Griffies, Stephen M. Bianchi, Daniele Claret, Mariona Dunne, John P. Frenger, Ivy Galbraith, Eric D. |
spellingShingle |
Yamamoto, Ayako Palter, Jaime B. Dufour, Carolina O. Griffies, Stephen M. Bianchi, Daniele Claret, Mariona Dunne, John P. Frenger, Ivy Galbraith, Eric D. Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
author_facet |
Yamamoto, Ayako Palter, Jaime B. Dufour, Carolina O. Griffies, Stephen M. Bianchi, Daniele Claret, Mariona Dunne, John P. Frenger, Ivy Galbraith, Eric D. |
author_sort |
Yamamoto, Ayako |
title |
Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
title_short |
Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
title_full |
Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
title_fullStr |
Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
title_full_unstemmed |
Roles of the Ocean Mesoscale in the Horizontal Supply of Mass, Heat, Carbon, and Nutrients to the Northern Hemisphere Subtropical Gyres |
title_sort |
roles of the ocean mesoscale in the horizontal supply of mass, heat, carbon, and nutrients to the northern hemisphere subtropical gyres |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@URI |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/520 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013969 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1506/viewcontent/Palter_RolesOfTheOcean_2018.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/520 doi:10.1029/2018JC013969 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1506/viewcontent/Palter_RolesOfTheOcean_2018.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013969 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
123 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
7016 |
op_container_end_page |
7036 |
_version_ |
1810464088281579520 |