Pacific ocean circulation based on observation

Pacific deep circulation and ventilation controlled by tidal mixing away from the sea bottom

“…All simulations capture the basic structure of the Pacific THC: the deep northward inflow of Circumpolar Deep Water from the Southern Ocean, and the middepth southward return flow with less upwelling to the surface 18,20 . As for the horizontal pattern of the Pacific deep circulation, observations suggest that water separating from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current enters the Pacific Ocean through the Samoan Passage and flows northward along with the bottom western boundary currents 21 . All simulations capture such features of the Pacific deep circulation, although some branches of western boundary currents are not resolved due to coarse resolution.…”

Neodymium isotopic characterization of Ross Sea Bottom Water and its advection through the southern South Pacific

“…North Pacific Deep Water (NPDW), unlike NADW, is composed of recycled deep water from the Southern Hemisphere. The NPDW flows south at 1500-3500 m water depth as a low-oxygen water mass and enters the South Pacific between the East Pacific Rise and South America (Kawabe and Fujio, 2010;Molina-Kescher et al, 2014).…”

Late Cenozoic history of deep water circulation in the western North Pacific: Evidence from Nd isotopes of ferromanganese crusts

“…A modern nearby seawater profile, TPS 24 271-1, also reveals that typical southern component water signal ( Nd values of 4.5 to 5.0) occurs only at water depths below ~4000 m [14]. As mentioned above, modern UCDW which ventilates the western North pacific at about 3000-3500 m follows the route east of the Solomon Rise (Figure 1), but a large fraction of it does not directly flow into the east Mariana basin [2,5]. Instead, the major route turns westward near Papua New Guinea arc and then flows into the Philippine Sea.…”

“…According to the water properties studies [1][2][3][4][5], the modern oxygen-rich Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW >3500 m) bifurcates at the equatorial central Pacific basin. The western branch of it flows northwest toward Mariana arc below water depth of ~4000 m and the eastern branch flows across the Wake Passage and then into the central North Pacific.…”

“…The average residence time of Nd in the global ocean (~300 to ~600 a) which is shorter than the ocean mixing time (~1500 a) prevents its complete homogenization and makes Nd isotopic signals of different water masses distinguishable throughout the ocean [8,13]. In the deep North Pacific, although Nd [6], Tasman [19]) and the schematically major currents in this area [5,20]. Also shown is a modern seawater profile TPS24 271-1 [14].…”