Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing
The ocean transports vast amounts of heat around the planet, helping to regulate regional climate. One important component of this heat transport is the movement of warm water from equatorial regions toward the poles, with colder water flowing in return. Here, we introduce a framework relating merid...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125625 |
| _version_ | 1811072262453854208 |
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| author | Holmes, Ryan M. Zika, Jan D. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Newsom, Emily R. England, Matthew H. |
| 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 Holmes, Ryan M. Zika, Jan D. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Newsom, Emily R. England, Matthew H. |
| author_sort | Holmes, Ryan M. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The ocean transports vast amounts of heat around the planet, helping to regulate regional climate. One important component of this heat transport is the movement of warm water from equatorial regions toward the poles, with colder water flowing in return. Here, we introduce a framework relating meridional heat transport to the diabatic processes of surface forcing and turbulent mixing that move heat across temperature classes. Applied to a (1/4)° global ocean model the framework highlights the role of the tropical Indo-Pacific in the global ocean heat transport. A large fraction of the northward heat transport in the Atlantic is ultimately sourced from heat uptake in the eastern tropical Pacific. Turbulent mixing moves heat from the warm, shallow Indo-Pacific circulation to the cold deeper-reaching Atlantic circulation. Our results underscore a renewed focus on the tropical oceans and their role in global circulation pathways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:03:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/125625 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:03:08Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1256252022-09-30T13:05:42Z Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing Holmes, Ryan M. Zika, Jan D. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Newsom, Emily R. England, Matthew H. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences The ocean transports vast amounts of heat around the planet, helping to regulate regional climate. One important component of this heat transport is the movement of warm water from equatorial regions toward the poles, with colder water flowing in return. Here, we introduce a framework relating meridional heat transport to the diabatic processes of surface forcing and turbulent mixing that move heat across temperature classes. Applied to a (1/4)° global ocean model the framework highlights the role of the tropical Indo-Pacific in the global ocean heat transport. A large fraction of the northward heat transport in the Atlantic is ultimately sourced from heat uptake in the eastern tropical Pacific. Turbulent mixing moves heat from the warm, shallow Indo-Pacific circulation to the cold deeper-reaching Atlantic circulation. Our results underscore a renewed focus on the tropical oceans and their role in global circulation pathways. Australian Research Council. Grant Numbers: DP150101331, CE110001028, DP160103130 2020-06-02T18:03:46Z 2020-06-02T18:03:46Z 2019-11 2019-10 2020-03-30T14:46:48Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0094-8276 1944-8007 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125625 Holmes, Ryan M., et al. "Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing." Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (December 2019): 13939-13949. © 2019 American Geophysical Union en http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019gl085160 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Holmes, Ryan M. Zika, Jan D. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Newsom, Emily R. England, Matthew H. Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title | Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title_full | Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title_fullStr | Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title_short | Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing |
| title_sort | atlantic ocean heat transport enabled by indo pacific heat uptake and mixing |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125625 |
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