Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process term...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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American Geophysical Union
2017
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| _version_ | 1797087312959504384 |
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| author | Marshall, D Ambaum, M Maddison, J Munday, D Novak, L |
| author_facet | Marshall, D Ambaum, M Maddison, J Munday, D Novak, L |
| author_sort | Marshall, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process termed “eddy saturation.” Here a simple model is presented that explains the physics of eddy saturation with three ingredients: a momentum budget, a relation between the eddy form stress and eddy energy, and an eddy energy budget. The model explains both the insensitivity of circumpolar volume transport to surface wind stress and the increase of eddy energy with wind stress. The model further predicts that circumpolar transport increases with increased bottom friction, a counterintuitive result that is confirmed in eddy-permitting calculations. These results suggest an unexpected and important impact of eddy energy dissipation, through bottom drag or lee wave generation, on ocean stratification, ocean heat content, and potentially atmospheric CO2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:34:00Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:a82d62ea-92a1-4ed8-b2cf-7d6c5ffe765e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:34:00Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:a82d62ea-92a1-4ed8-b2cf-7d6c5ffe765e2022-03-27T02:59:41ZEddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar CurrentJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a82d62ea-92a1-4ed8-b2cf-7d6c5ffe765eSymplectic Elements at OxfordAmerican Geophysical Union2017Marshall, DAmbaum, MMaddison, JMunday, DNovak, LThe Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process termed “eddy saturation.” Here a simple model is presented that explains the physics of eddy saturation with three ingredients: a momentum budget, a relation between the eddy form stress and eddy energy, and an eddy energy budget. The model explains both the insensitivity of circumpolar volume transport to surface wind stress and the increase of eddy energy with wind stress. The model further predicts that circumpolar transport increases with increased bottom friction, a counterintuitive result that is confirmed in eddy-permitting calculations. These results suggest an unexpected and important impact of eddy energy dissipation, through bottom drag or lee wave generation, on ocean stratification, ocean heat content, and potentially atmospheric CO2. |
| spellingShingle | Marshall, D Ambaum, M Maddison, J Munday, D Novak, L Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title | Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title_full | Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title_fullStr | Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title_short | Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current |
| title_sort | eddy saturation and frictional control of the antarctic circumpolar current |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marshalld eddysaturationandfrictionalcontroloftheantarcticcircumpolarcurrent AT ambaumm eddysaturationandfrictionalcontroloftheantarcticcircumpolarcurrent AT maddisonj eddysaturationandfrictionalcontroloftheantarcticcircumpolarcurrent AT mundayd eddysaturationandfrictionalcontroloftheantarcticcircumpolarcurrent AT novakl eddysaturationandfrictionalcontroloftheantarcticcircumpolarcurrent |