On the abyssal circulation of the world ocean — II. An idealized model of the circulation pattern and amplitude in oceanic basins

Stommel, Henry; Arons, A. B.

doi:10.1016/0146-6313(59)90075-9

Cited by 303 publications

(170 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, it appears that broad flows in the deep and abyssal waters are often accompanied by important boundary circulations of equal or greater magnitude. This is in qualitative agreement with the theory of Stommel and Arons [1960), although the present study typically shows equatorward rather than poleward interior flow in both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. Figure 9b shows the Indo-Pacific stream function with its intense equatorial upwelling.…”

Section: Esupporting

confidence: 79%

“…According to theoretical considerations [Kawase, 1987], they can occur in association with enhanced equatorial upwelling or mixing, as an alternative to the more commonly accepted possibility of near-uniform upwelling, which was developed by Stommel and Arons [1960]. In the present study, a parameterization of vertical mixing is used with a dependence on Richardson number [Pacanowski and Philander, 1981].…”

Section: Global Conveyor Beltmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ocean general circulation from a global eddy‐resolving model

Semtner¹,

Chervin²

1992

J. Geophys. Res.

462

186

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A concerted effort has been made to simulate the global ocean circulation with resolved eddies, using a highly optimized model on the best available supercomputer. An earlier 20-year spin-up has been extended for 12.5 additional years: the first 2.5 with continued annual mean forcing and the final 10.0 with climatological monthly forcing. Model output archived at 3-day intervals has been analyzed into mean fields, standard deviations, products, and covariances on monthly, annual, and multiyear time scales. The multiyear results are examined here in order to give insight into the general circulation of the world ocean. The three-dimensional How fields of the model are quite realistic, even though resolution of eddies in high latitudes is marginal with a 0.5°, 20-level grid. The use of seasonal forcing improves the simulation, especially in the tropics and high northern latitudes. Mid-latitude gyre circulations, western boundary currents, zonal equatorial Hows, and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) all show mean and eddy characteristics similar to those observed. There is also some indication of eddy intensification of the mean How of the ACC and of separated boundary jets. A global thermohaline circulation of North Atlantic Deep Water is identified in deep western boundary currents connected by the ACC. This deep circulation rises mainly in the equatorial Pacific. Several zonal jets are an integral part of this circulation near the equator. The deep How rises toward the surface in a series of switchbacks. Much of the thermohaline return How then follows an eddy-rich warm-water route through the Indonesian archipelago and around the southern tip of Africa. However, some intermediate level portions of the thermohaline circulation return south into the ACC and follow a cold water route through the Drake Passage. The representation of a global "conveyor belt" circulation with narrow and relatively high-speed currents along most of its path may be the most important result of this modeling study. Statistics of scalar fields such as transport stream function and surface height are exhibited, as are time series and frequency spectra of certain variables at selected points. These provide a baseline for comparison both with observations and with other model studies at higher resolution. Mean and eddy characteristics of the near-surface temperature and salinity fields are discussed, and surface forcing fields are examined. In particular, combined thermal and hydrological forcing effects are found to drive a conveyor belt circulation between the tropical Pacific and the high-latitude North Atlantic. The effect of weak restoring terms to observed temperature and salinity at great depth and in polar latitudes is found mainly to augment the model's convective processes, which are poorly resolved with 0.5° grid spacing. However, the deep restoring terms are insignificant in both the tropics and the mid-latitudes. The geographical distributions of eddy heat and salt transport are discussed. The eddies transport heat and sa...

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Section: Esupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Global Conveyor Beltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean general circulation from a global eddy‐resolving model

Semtner¹,

Chervin²

1992

J. Geophys. Res.

462

186

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Assuming there be one deep-water formation site at each pole with uniform upwelling elsewhere globally and flat bottom for each ocean basin, the classical abyssal circulation theory predicts that the weak interior flow should be poleward with strong western boundary currents equatorward in the deep ocean [1,2]. The existence of the deep western boundary current in the North Atlantic confirms this theory.…”

supporting

confidence: 65%

Analysis of deep-layer and bottom circulations in the South China Sea based on eight quasi-global ocean model outputs

et al. 2013

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This study is a preliminary analysis of the South China Sea (SCS) deep circulations using eight quasi-global high-resolution ocean model outputs. The goal is to assess models' ability to simulate these deep circulations. The analysis reveals that models' deep temperatures are colder than the observations in the World Ocean Atlas, while most models' deep salinity values are higher than the observations, indicating models' deep water is generally colder and saltier than the reality. Moreover, there are long-term trends in both temperature and salinity simulations. The Luzon Strait transport below 1500 m is 0.36 Sv when averaged for all models, smaller compared with the observation, which is about 2.5 Sv. Four assimilated models and one unassimilated (OCCAM) display that the Luzon deep-layer overflow reaches its minimum in spring and its maximum in winter. The vertically integrated streamfunctions below 2400 m from these models show a deep cyclonic circulation in the SCS on a large scale, but the pattern is different from the diagnostic streamfunction from the U.S Navy Generalized Digital Environment Model (GDEM-Version 3.0, GDEMv3). The meridional overturning structure above 1000 m is similar in all models, but the spatial distribution and intensity below 1500 m are quite different from model to model. Moreover, the meridional overturning below 2400 m in these models is weaker than that of the GDEMv3, which indicates a deep vertical mixing process in these models is biased weak. Based on the above evaluation, this paper discusses the impacts of T/S initial value, topography, and mixing scheme on the SCS deep circulations, which may provide a reference for future model improvement. quasi-global ocean model, deep-layer and bottom SCS circulations, model evaluation Citation:Xie Q, Xiao J G, Wang D X, et al. Analysis of deep-layer and bottom circulations in the South China Sea based on eight quasi-global ocean model outputs.

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“…In §1, we described how early large-scale conceptual models drove the fundamental questions for early palaeoceanographic studies [2,12]. As described in §2a, modelling is playing an important role in developing our interpretations of new palaeoceanographic proxies [62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70], and this type of approach characterizes one of the ways that modelling and observational techniques can be used in tandem.…”

Section: (D) Comparisons Between Modelling and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On time scales of decades to millions of years, the ocean plays a key role in modulating and controlling global climate, including heat redistribution [1,2], the carbon cycle [3] and the hydrologic cycle [4]. If we are to make predictions about the response of the Earth to perturbations, either natural or anthropogenic, then we need a mechanistic understanding of the ocean's behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoceanography: motivations and challenges for the future

Robinson

Siddall

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The ocean interacts with the atmosphere, biosphere and cryosphere in a complex way, modulating climate through the storage and transport of heat, nutrients and carbon. As such, it is important that we understand the ways in which the ocean behaves and the factors that can lead to change. In order to gain this understanding, we need to look back into the past, on time scales from recent decadal-scale change, through the abrupt changes of the Pleistocene and back to times when the Earth's climate was significantly different than the Holocene. A key challenge facing the field of palaeoceanography is to combine data and modelling in a common framework. Coupling palaeo-data and models should improve our knowledge of how the Earth works, and perhaps of more direct societal relevance, might enable us to provide better predictive capabilities in climate modelling. In this discussion paper, we examine the motivations, past successes and challenges facing palaeoceanographic studies. We then suggest a number of areas and approaches that we believe will allow palaeoceanography to continue to provide new insights into processes that affect future climate change.

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On the abyssal circulation of the world ocean — II. An idealized model of the circulation pattern and amplitude in oceanic basins

Cited by 303 publications

References 8 publications

Ocean general circulation from a global eddy‐resolving model

Ocean general circulation from a global eddy‐resolving model

Analysis of deep-layer and bottom circulations in the South China Sea based on eight quasi-global ocean model outputs

Palaeoceanography: motivations and challenges for the future

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