On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean
In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| _version_ | 1826196301063127040 |
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| author | Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. |
| 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 Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. |
| author_sort | Stewart, Andrew L. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the ocean. The oceanographic community's conceptual understanding of the deep stratification and MOC has evolved from classic “abyssal recipes” arguments to a more recent appreciation of along-isopycnal upwelling in the Southern Ocean, consistent with a weakly mixed ocean interior. Both the deep stratification and the deep MOC are shown here to be sensitive to the form of the surface buoyancy forcing in a two-dimensional model that includes a circumpolar channel and northern basin. For a fixed surface buoyancy condition, the deep stratification is essentially prescribed, whereas for a fixed surface buoyancy flux, the deep stratification varies by orders of magnitude over the range of diapycnal diffusivity κ observed in the ocean. These cases also produce different scalings for the deep MOC with κ, in both weak and strong κ regimes. In addition, these scalings are shown to be sensitive not only to the type of surface boundary condition, but also to the latitudinal structure of the surface fluxes. This latter point is crucial as buoyancy budgets and dynamical features of the circulation are poorly constrained along the Antarctic margins. This study emphasizes the need for caution in the interpretation of simple conceptual models that, while useful, may not include all mechanisms that contribute to the MOC’s strength and structure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:24:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/91277 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:24:25Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/912772022-09-26T17:39:20Z On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele In the major ocean basins, diapycnal mixing upwells dense Antarctic Bottom Water, which returns southward and closes the deepest cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This cell ventilates the deep ocean and regulates the partitioning of CO[subscript 2] between the atmosphere and the ocean. The oceanographic community's conceptual understanding of the deep stratification and MOC has evolved from classic “abyssal recipes” arguments to a more recent appreciation of along-isopycnal upwelling in the Southern Ocean, consistent with a weakly mixed ocean interior. Both the deep stratification and the deep MOC are shown here to be sensitive to the form of the surface buoyancy forcing in a two-dimensional model that includes a circumpolar channel and northern basin. For a fixed surface buoyancy condition, the deep stratification is essentially prescribed, whereas for a fixed surface buoyancy flux, the deep stratification varies by orders of magnitude over the range of diapycnal diffusivity κ observed in the ocean. These cases also produce different scalings for the deep MOC with κ, in both weak and strong κ regimes. In addition, these scalings are shown to be sensitive not only to the type of surface boundary condition, but also to the latitudinal structure of the surface fluxes. This latter point is crucial as buoyancy budgets and dynamical features of the circulation are poorly constrained along the Antarctic margins. This study emphasizes the need for caution in the interpretation of simple conceptual models that, while useful, may not include all mechanisms that contribute to the MOC’s strength and structure. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award OCE-1232962) 2014-11-04T13:29:53Z 2014-11-04T13:29:53Z 2014-03 2013-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 Stewart, Andrew L., Raffaele Ferrari, and Andrew F. Thompson. “On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 3 (March 2014): 891–899. © 2014 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0206.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 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 Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Stewart, Andrew L. Ferrari, Raffaele Thompson, Andrew F. On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title | On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title_full | On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title_fullStr | On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title_short | On the Importance of Surface Forcing in Conceptual Models of the Deep Ocean |
| title_sort | on the importance of surface forcing in conceptual models of the deep ocean |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91277 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
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