What processes drive the ocean heat transport?
The ocean contributes to regulating the Earth’s climate through its ability to transport heat from the equator to the poles. In this study we use long simulations of an ocean model to investigate whether the heat transport is carried primarily by wind-driven gyres or whether it is dominated by deep...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Elsevier
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103943 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| _version_ | 1811072198273662976 |
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| author | Ferrari, Raffaele Ferreira, David |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele Ferreira, David |
| author_sort | Ferrari, Raffaele |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The ocean contributes to regulating the Earth’s climate through its ability to transport heat from the equator to the poles. In this study we use long simulations of an ocean model to investigate whether the heat transport is carried primarily by wind-driven gyres or whether it is dominated by deep circulations associated with abyssal mixing and high latitude convection. The heat transport is computed as a function of temperature classes. In the Pacific and Indian ocean, the bulk of the heat transport is associated with wind-driven gyres confined to the thermocline. In the Atlantic, the thermocline gyres account for only 40% of the total heat transport. The remaining 60% is associated with a circulation reaching down to cold waters below the thermocline. Using a series of sensitivity experiments, we show that this deep heat transport is primarily set by the strength and patterns of surface winds and only secondarily by diabatic processes at high latitudes in the North Atlantic. Abyssal mixing below 2000 m has hardly any impact on ocean heat transport. A major implication is that the role of the ocean in regulating Earth’s climate strongly depends on how surface winds change across different climates in both hemispheres at low and high latitudes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:02:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/103943 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:02:05Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1039432022-09-30T12:58:46Z What processes drive the ocean heat transport? Ferrari, Raffaele Ferreira, David Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele Ferrari, Raffaele Ferreira, David The ocean contributes to regulating the Earth’s climate through its ability to transport heat from the equator to the poles. In this study we use long simulations of an ocean model to investigate whether the heat transport is carried primarily by wind-driven gyres or whether it is dominated by deep circulations associated with abyssal mixing and high latitude convection. The heat transport is computed as a function of temperature classes. In the Pacific and Indian ocean, the bulk of the heat transport is associated with wind-driven gyres confined to the thermocline. In the Atlantic, the thermocline gyres account for only 40% of the total heat transport. The remaining 60% is associated with a circulation reaching down to cold waters below the thermocline. Using a series of sensitivity experiments, we show that this deep heat transport is primarily set by the strength and patterns of surface winds and only secondarily by diabatic processes at high latitudes in the North Atlantic. Abyssal mixing below 2000 m has hardly any impact on ocean heat transport. A major implication is that the role of the ocean in regulating Earth’s climate strongly depends on how surface winds change across different climates in both hemispheres at low and high latitudes. 2016-08-17T14:47:43Z 2016-08-17T14:47:43Z 2011-03 2011-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 14635003 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103943 Ferrari, Raffaele, and David Ferreira. “What Processes Drive the Ocean Heat Transport?” Ocean Modelling 38, no. 3–4 (January 2011): 171–186. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2011.02.013 Ocean Modelling Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier Prof. Ferrari via Chris Sherratt |
| spellingShingle | Ferrari, Raffaele Ferreira, David What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title | What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title_full | What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title_fullStr | What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title_full_unstemmed | What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title_short | What processes drive the ocean heat transport? |
| title_sort | what processes drive the ocean heat transport |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103943 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ferrariraffaele whatprocessesdrivetheoceanheattransport AT ferreiradavid whatprocessesdrivetheoceanheattransport |