Subtropical mode water in the Northeast Pacific Basin

Hautala, Susan; Roemmich, Dean

doi:10.1029/98jc01015

Cited by 116 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…6. The third, low density, mode water of the subtropical gyre is found in the eastern North Pacific (Hautala and Roemmich 1998); through our analysis of SODA output, this low-density mode water has a mean density of s u 5 24:7 kg m eastern subtropical gyres, the Madeira Mode Water (shown as a patch with mean density s u 5 26:7 kg m 23 ) (Siedler et al 1987), is analogous to the North Pacific Eastern Subtropical Mode Water. Moreover, the single subduction peak in the North Atlantic (Fig.…”

Section: ) North Pacific Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Subduction/Obduction Rates: Their Interannual and Decadal Variability

Liu

Huang

2012

Journal of Climate

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ventilation, including subduction and obduction, for the global oceans was examined using Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) outputs. The global subduction rate averaged over the period from 1959 to 2006 is estimated at 505.8 Sv (1 Sv [ 10 6 m 3 s 21 ), while the corresponding global obduction rate is estimated at 482.1 Sv. The annual subduction/obduction rates vary greatly on the interannual and decadal time scales. The global subduction rate is estimated to have increased 7.6% over the past 50 years, while the obduction rate is estimated to have increased 9.8%. Such trends may be insignificant because errors associated with the data generated by ocean data assimilation could be as large as 10%. However, a major physical mechanism that induced these trends is primarily linked to changes in the Southern Ocean. While the Southern Ocean plays a key role in global subduction and obduction rates and their variability, both the Southern Ocean and equatorial regions are critically important sites of water mass formation/erosion.

show abstract

Section: ) North Pacific Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Subduction/Obduction Rates: Their Interannual and Decadal Variability

Liu

Huang

2012

Journal of Climate

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In particular, the subducted water mass is believed to retain the memory of atmospheric variability and plays a key role in the seasonalto-decadal ocean climate variability of the Pacific [Hanawa and Talley, 2001;Zhang et al, 1998]. In general, the North Pacific STMW can be classified into 3 groups, based on their density and location: the western STMW (WSTMW) [Masuzawa, 1969], the Central Mode Water (CMW) [Suga et al, 1997], and the eastern STMW (ESTMW) [Hautala and Doemmich, 1998;Hanawa and Talley, 2001]. The surface buoyancy fluxes [Xie et al, 2000;Ladd and Thompson, 2002] and large-scale wind stress [Davis et al, 2010] are believed to be responsible for the variability of these water masses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐correlated variability in subduction rate of the western and eastern North Pacific Oceans identified by an eddy‐resolving ocean GCM

Chen

Sasaki

et al. 2010

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Analysis of results from an eddy‐resolving ocean general circulation model has revealed the existence of an anti‐correlated variability in subduction rate of the western and eastern North Pacific Oceans, consistent with the leading mode of Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). A composite analysis shows that during the positive phase of PDO, the winter mixed layer depth (MLD) generally gets deeper in the west and shallower in the east, being closely related to the variability in surface heat flux stemming from an enhanced Aleutian Low, and the situation during the negative phase of PDO is reversed. Changes in MLD are primarily responsible for the anti‐correlated variability in subduction rate, though changes in subtropical gyre circulation also play a role. The result also provides useful evidence for the interior and western boundary pathways, through which variability in eastern subtropical mode water can be conveyed into the equatorial region.

show abstract

“…3. On the lighter isopycnals (top panels), these mode waters can be associated with the North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW) (Masuzawa 1969) and the North Pacific Eastern Subtropical Mode Water (NPESTMW) (Hautala and Roemmich 1998). In models, including in the one employed in this study, the isopycnals along which the low PV signal penetrates into the subsurface ocean may not always be the same as those in observations.…”

Section: A Extratropical North Pacificmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subduction and Transport in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in a 2 × CO2 Climate

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Subduction, water mass transformation, and transport rates in the Indo-Pacific Ocean are diagnosed in a recent version of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis coupled model. It is found that the subduction across the base of the winter mixed layer is dominated by the lateral transfer, particularly within the relatively dense water classes corresponding to the densest mode and intermediate waters. However, within lighter densities, including those characterizing the lighter varieties of mode waters, the vertical transfer has a strong positive input to the net subduction. The upper-ocean volume transports across 308N and 328S are largest within the density classes that correspond to mode waters. In the North Pacific, the buoyancy flux converts the near-surface waters mostly to denser water classes, whereas in the Southern Ocean the surface waters are transformed both to lighter and denser water classes, depending on the density. In response to a doubling of CO 2 , the subduction, transformation, and transport of mode waters in both hemispheres shift to lighter densities but do not change significantly, whereas the subduction of intermediate waters decreases. The area of large winter mixed layer depths decreases, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. In the low latitudes, the thermocline water flux that enters the tropical Pacific via the western boundary flows generally increases. However, its anomaly has a complex structure, so that integrated estimates can be sensitive to the isopycnal ranges. The upper part of the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) strengthens in the warmer climate, whereas its lower part weakens. The anomaly in the EUC closely follows the anomaly in stratification along the equator. The Indonesian Throughflow transport decreases with part of it being redirected eastward. This part joins with the intensified equatorward thermocline flows at the western boundaries and contributes to the EUC anomaly.

show abstract

Subtropical mode water in the Northeast Pacific Basin

Abstract: To set the WOCE PX37 data into its broader context, in-13,055

Cited by 116 publications

References 19 publications

The Global Subduction/Obduction Rates: Their Interannual and Decadal Variability

The Global Subduction/Obduction Rates: Their Interannual and Decadal Variability

Anti‐correlated variability in subduction rate of the western and eastern North Pacific Oceans identified by an eddy‐resolving ocean GCM

Subduction and Transport in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in a 2 × CO2 Climate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About