Synoptic reorganization of atmospheric flow during the Last Glacial Maximum

A coupled global atmosphere–ocean model of intermediate complexity is used to study the influence of glacial boundary conditions on the atmospheric circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum in a systematical manner. A web of atmospheric interactions is disentangled, which involves changes in the meridional temperature gradient and an associated modulation of the atmospheric baroclinicity. This in turn drives anomalous transient eddy momentum fluxes that feed back onto the zonal mean circulation. Moreover, the modified transient activity (weakened in the North Pacific and strengthened in the North Atlantic) leads to a meridional reorganization of the atmospheric heat transport, thereby feeding back onto the meridional temperature structure. Furthermore, positive barotropic conversion and baroclinic production rates over the Laurentide ice sheets and the far eastern North Pacific have the tendency to decelerate the westerlies, thereby feeding back to the stationary wave changes triggered by orographic forcing

An initial intercomparison of atmospheric and oceanic climatology for the ICE-5G and ICE-4G models of LGM paleotopography

This paper investigates the impact of the new ICE-5G paleotopography dataset for Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) conditions on a coupled model simulation of the thermal and dynamical state of the glacial atmosphere and on both land surface and sea surface conditions. The study is based upon coupled climate simulations performed with the ocean–atmosphere–sea ice model of intermediate-complexity Climate de Bilt-coupled large-scale ice–ocean (ECBilt-Clio) model. Four simulations focusing on the Last Glacial Maximum [21 000 calendar years before present (BP)] have been analyzed: a first simulation (LGM-4G) that employed the original ICE-4G ice sheet topography and albedo, and a second simulation (LGM-5G) that employed the newly constructed ice sheet topography, denoted ICE-5G, and its respective albedo. Intercomparison of the results obtained in these experiments demonstrates that the LGM-5G simulation delivers significantly enhanced cooling over Canada compared to the LGM-4G simulation whereas positive temperature anomalies are simulated over southern North America and the northern Atlantic. Moreover, introduction of the ICE-5G topography is shown to lead to a deceleration of the subtropical westerlies and to the development of an intensified ridge over North America, which has a profound effect upon the hydrological cycle. Additionally, two flat ice sheet experiments were carried out to investigate the impact of the ice sheet albedo on global climate. By comparing these experiments with the full LGM simulations, it becomes evident that the climate anomalies between LGM-5G and LGM-4G are mainly driven by changes of the earth’s topography

Restratification of Abyssal Mixing Layers by Submesoscale Baroclinic Eddies

For small-scale turbulence to achieve water mass transformation and thus affect the large-scale overturning circulation, it must occur in stratified water. Observations show that abyssal turbulence is strongly enhanced in the bottom few hundred meters in regions with rough topography, and it is thought that these abyssal mixing layers are crucial for closing and shaping the overturning circulation. If it were left unopposed, however, bottom-intensified turbulence would mix away the observed mixing-layer stratification over the course of a few years. It is proposed here that the homogenizing tendency of mixing may be balanced by baroclinic restratification. It is shown that bottom-intensified mixing, if it occurs on a large-scale topographic slope such as a midocean ridge flank, not only erodes stratification but also tilts isopycnals in the bottom few hundred meters. This tilting of isopycnals generates a reservoir of potential energy that can be tapped into by submesoscale baroclinic eddies. The eddies slide dense water under light water and thus restratify the mixing layer, similar to what happens in the surface mixed layer. This restratification is shown to be effective enough to balance the homogenizing tendency of mixing and to maintain the observed mixing-layer stratification. This suggests that submesoscale baroclinic eddies may play a crucial role in providing the stratification mixing can act on, thus allowing sustained water mass transformation. Through their restratification of abyssal mixing layers, submesoscale eddies may therefore directly affect the strength and structure of the abyssal overturning circulation

Temporal Variability of Diapycnal Mixing in Shag Rocks Passage

Diapycnal mixing rates in the oceans have been shown to have a great deal of spatial variability, but the temporal variability has been little studied. Here we present results from a method developed to calculate diapycnal diffusivity from moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) velocity shear profiles. An 18-month time series of diffusivity is presented from data taken by a LongRanger ADCP moored at 2400 m depth, 600 m above the sea floor, in Shag Rocks Passage, a deep passage in the North Scotia Ridge (Southern Ocean). The Polar Front is constrained to pass through this passage, and the strong currents and complex topography are expected to result in enhanced mixing. The spatial distribution of diffusivity in Shag Rocks Passage deduced from lowered ADCP shear is consistent with published values for similar regions, with diffusivity possibly as large as 90 × 10-4 m2 s-1 near the sea floor, decreasing to the expected background level of ~ 0.1 × 10-4 m2 s-1 in areas away from topography. The moored ADCP profiles spanned a depth range of 2400 to 1800 m; thus the moored time series was obtained from a region of moderately enhanced diffusivity. The diffusivity time series has a median of 3.3 × 10-4 m2 s-1 and a range of 0.5 × 10-4 m2 s-1 to 57 × 10-4 m2 s-1. There is no significant signal at annual or semiannual periods, but there is evidence of signals at periods of approximately fourteen days (likely due to the spring-neaps tidal cycle), and at periods of 3.8 and 2.6 days most likely due to topographically-trapped waves propagating around the local seamount. Using the observed stratification and an axisymmetric seamount, of similar dimensions to the one west of the mooring, in a model of baroclinic topographically-trapped waves, produces periods of 3.8 and 2.6 days, in agreement with the signals observed. The diffusivity is anti-correlated with the rotary coefficient (indicating that stronger mixing occurs during times of upward energy propagation), which suggests that mixing occurs due to the breaking of internal waves generated at topography

Control of the glacial carbon budget by topographically induced mixing

Evidence for the oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2 during glaciations suggests that there was less production of southern origin deep water but, paradoxically, a larger volume of southern origin water than today. Here we demonstrate, using a theoretical box model, that the inverse relationship between volume and production rate of this water mass can be explained by invoking mixing rates in the deep ocean that are proportional to topographic outcropping area scaled with ocean floor slope. Furthermore, we show that the resulting profile, of a near-linear decrease in mixing intensity away from the bottom, generates a positive feedback on CO2 uptake that can initiate a glacial cycle. The results point to the importance of using topography-dependent mixing when studying the large-scale ocean circulation, especially in the paleo-intercomparison models that have failed to produce the weaker and more voluminous bottom water of the Last Glacial Maximum

Aspects of southern ocean transport and mixing

Understanding and quantifying the circulation of the oceans and the driving mechanisms thereof is an important step in developing models which can accurately predict future climate change. In particular, model studies have shown that the spatial variability of diapycnal diffusivity, which represents the rate at which deep water returns to shallower depths by means of turbulent diapycnal mixing, is a critical factor controlling the strength and structure of the circulation. Efforts are therefore ongoing to measure diffusivity as extensively as possible, but temporal variability in diffusivity has not been widely addressed. Results from three Southern Ocean studies are presented in this thesis. Firstly, a high resolution hydrographic survey carried out on the northern flank of the Kerguelen Plateau identifies a complex meandering current system carrying a total eastward volume transport of 174 ± 22 Sv, mostly associated with the blended Subtropical Front/Subantarctic Front. Significant water mass transformation across isopycnals is not required to balance the budgets in this region. Secondly, results are presented which cast doubt on the advisability of using density profiles acquired using Conductivity-Temperature-Depth instruments to estimate diapycnal diffusivity (an attractive proposition due to low cost and widespread data availability) in areas of weak stratification such as the Southern Ocean, because the noise characteristics of the data result in inaccurate diffusivity estimates. Finally, a method is developed for estimating diffusivity from profiles of velocity shear acquired by moored acoustic Doppler current profilers. An 18-month time series of diffusivity estimates is derived with a median of 3.3 × 10−4 m2 s−1 and a range of 0.5 × 10−4 m2 s−1 to 57 × 10−4 m2 s−1. There is no significant signal at annual or semiannual periods, but there is evidence of signals at periods of approximately fourteen days (likely due to the spring-neaps tidal cycle), and at periods of 3.8 and 2.6 days most likely due to topographically-trapped waves propagating around the local seamount. More widespread application of this method would allow for an assessment of natural climate variability in diapycnal diffusivity

On the origin and pathway of the saline inflow to the Nordic Seas: insights from models

The behaviours of three high-resolution ocean circulation models of the North Atlantic, differing chiefly in their description of the vertical coordinate, are investigated in order to elucidate the routes and mechanisms by which saline water masses of southern origin provide inflows to the Nordic Seas. An existing hypothesis is that Mediterranean Overflow Water (MOW) is carried polewards in an eastern boundary undercurrent, and provides a deep source for these inflows. This study, however, provides an alternative view that the inflows are derived from shallow sources, and are comprised of water masses of western origin, carried by branches of the North Atlantic Current (NAC), and also more saline Eastern North Atlantic Water (ENAW), transported northwards from the Bay of Biscay region via a ‘Shelf Edge Current’ (SEC) flowing around the continental margins. In two of the models, the MOW flows northwards, but reaches only as far as the Porcupine Bank (53°N). In third model, the MOW also invades the Rockall Trough (extending to 60°N). However, none of the models allows the MOW to flow northwards into the Nordic Seas. Instead, they all support the hypothesis of there being shallow pathways, and that the saline inflows to the Nordic Seas result from NAC-derived and ENAW water masses, which meet and partially mix in the Rockall Trough. Volume and salinity transports into the southern Rockall Trough via the SEC are, in the various models, between 25 and 100% of those imported by the NAC, and are also a similarly significant proportion (20–75%) of the transports into the Nordic Seas. Moreover, the highest salinities are carried northwards by the SEC (these being between 0.13 and 0.19 psu more saline at the southern entrance to the Trough than those in the NAC-derived waters). This reveals for the first time the importance of the SEC in carrying saline water masses through the RockallTrough and into the Nordic Seas. Furthermore, the high salinities found on density surfaces appropriate to the MOW in the Nordic Seas are shown to result from the wintertime mixing of the saline near-surface waters advected northwards by the SEC/NAC system. Throughout, we have attempted to demonstrate the extent to which the models agree or disagree with interpretations derived from observations, so that the study also contributes to an ongoing community effort to assess the realism of our current generation of ocean models

Comparison of deep-ocean finescale shear at two sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Author Posting. © The Author, 2005. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 53 (2006): 207-225, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2005.08.021.Four drifting floats were used to measure the magnitude of the vertical derivative of horizontal velocity in waters above the rough bathymetry of the Mid Atlantic Ridge. This derivative is typically the dominant component of the velocity gradient (the shear). Two floats were at the site of the Brazil Basin Tracer Release Experiment (BBTRE) in the South Atlantic, and two were near the site of the Guiana Abyssal Gyre Experiment (GAGE) in the North Atlantic. Floats operated for one year except for one BBTRE float which operated for 100 days. Shear was measured over a vertical span of 9.5 m using drag elements that caused the floats to rotate slowly in response to shear. For each float, the first, second and fourth moments of shear were elevated above levels associated with the Garrett-Munk model internal-wave spectrum. Three of the four floats were tracked as they moved over mountainous terrain, allowing shear intensity to be measured as a function of height above the bottom. A deep BBTRE float showed enhancement of rms shear near the bottom. Floats at both areas provided measurements at 2000 m above the bottom, with differing results: The GAGE site had a lower fourth moment of shear (diapycnal diffusivity proxy) than the BBTRE site. However, application of normalization factors accounting for differences between the sites in bottom roughness, latitude-dependent internal-wave dynamics, and tidal current speeds brings the results into agreement.This work was funded by the National Science Foundation under grants OCE9416014 and OCE9906685

Ocean motion on the Yermak Plateau : - tidal and air-ocean interactions

This study focuses on the tidal and atmospheric dynamics controlling the overflow of warm Atlantic Water, crossing over the Yermak Plateau, which can be seen as a doorstep to the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic conditions are changing due to the general global warming, and in order to make good predictions of the future climate north of Svalbard and further into the Arctic Ocean, a good understating of the dynamics controlling the overflow is essential. The Yermak Plateau is known for enhanced diurnal tides caused by topographically trapped waves (TTW). A numerical shelf model has been set up for the southwestern side of the plateau to investigate when the TTW near the diurnal frequency become resonant with zero group velocity, meaning that the diurnal energy does not radiate out of the region, but will accumulate along the slope. The model inputs are slope steepness, background current and stratification, and the result indicates that the group velocity of the TTW near the diurnal frequency becomes zero when the background current is strong, i.e. during winter. Four moorings have measured ocean currents and ocean bottom pressure (OBP) on top of the plateau and the data revealed significant monthly and fortnight tidal periods during winter. The low-frequency Lunar Monthly, Mm, and the fortnightly, MSf, are astronomically forced, but their potentials are weak, especially the potential of MSf. Therefore, we suggest that the observed enhancement of Mm and MSf on top of the plateau during winter, is caused by an energy contribution from the diurnal tides. The superposition of Mm and MSf have been termed the Nonlinear Yermak Tidal Overflow (NYTO), and reached a maximum speed of 15 cm s$^{-1}$ in February 2016. From December to May, the mean volume transport was 1.1 Sv by the NYTO alone. The four moorings located on top of the plateau have been set up to target the Svalbard Branch (SB) and the Spitsbergen Polar Current (SPC). After evaluating the tidal effect on the Atlantic Water flow across the plateau, these ocean data were coupled with high resolution atmospheric hindcast data to get a deeper understanding of the air-ocean dynamics. The volume transports in the SB and the SPC calculated from the OBP data were correlated with the wind stress curl over Svalbard. As a negative wind stress curl is linked to surface water convergence, southerly alongshore winds stress in the Fram Strait will generate onshore Ekman transport resulting in a convergence zone with a negative wind stress curl on the shelf. This effect steepens the sea surface tilt over the slope, accelerating the ocean current along the slope. In the opposite case, a northerly wind stress generates a westward Ekman transport, weakening the sea surface tilt and decreasing the current speed. Satellite altimetry measurements from 1994 to 2018 were included to investigate the interannual and decadal variations of the oceanic flow passing over the plateau. To validate the performance of satellite altimetry in the SB north of Svalbard, the calculated current fluctuation from satellite altimetry were compared with the current fluctuation derived from the OBP data. Satellite altimetry was found to be useful in calculating the volume transports in winter when the water column has constant density. The winter volume transports from 1994 to 2018 were calculated in three sections, the barotropic West Spitsbergen Current (WSC core), the SB, and the Yermak Pass Branch (YPB) with mean values of 1.4 Sv, 1.1 Sv, and 1.4 Sv, respectively. The flow in the WSC core and the SB correlated with each other throughout the winter season and with the southerly wind stress on the West Spitsbergen Shelf. The flow in the YPB correlated with the northerly wind stress on the West Spitsbergen Shelf and were anti-correlated with the WSC core and the SB from March to May.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Circulation in the northwest Laptev Sea in the eastern Arctic Ocean: Crossroads between Siberian River water, Atlantic water and polynya-formed dense water

This paper investigates new observations from the poorly understood region between the Kara and Laptev Seas in the Eastern Arctic Ocean. We discuss relevant circulation features including riverine freshwater, Atlantic-derived water, and polynya-formed dense water, emphasize Vilkitsky Strait (VS) as an important Kara Sea gateway, and analyze the role of the adjacent ∼250 km-long submarine Vilkitsky Trough (VT) for the Arctic boundary current. Expeditions in 2013 and 2014 operated closely spaced hydrographic transects and 1 year-long oceanographic mooring near VT's southern slope, and found persistent annually averaged flow of 0.2 m s−1 toward the Nansen Basin. The flow is nearly barotropic from winter through early summer and becomes surface intensified with maximum velocities of 0.35 m s−1 from August to October. Thermal wind shear is maximal above the southern flank at ∼30 m depth, in agreement with basinward flow above VT's southern slope. The subsurface features a steep front separating warm (–0.5°C) Atlantic-derived waters in central VT from cold (<–1.5°C) shelf waters, which episodically migrates across the trough indicated by current reversals and temperature fluctuations. Shelf-transformed waters dominate above VT's slope, measuring near-freezing temperatures throughout the water column at salinities of 34–35. These dense waters are vigorously advected toward the Eurasian Basin and characterize VT as a conduit for near-freezing waters that could potentially supply the Arctic Ocean's lower halocline, cool Atlantic water, and ventilate the deeper Arctic Ocean. Our observations from the northwest Laptev Sea highlight a topographically complex region with swift currents, several water masses, narrow fronts, polynyas, and topographically channeled storms