177 research outputs found
Deep zonal currents in the central equatorial Pacific
A complex system of deep zonal currents in the central equatorial Pacific persisted during 16 months of current measurements spanning the 1982â1983 EI Niño episode. At least three extra equatorialcurrents appear to be permanent: the north and south intermediate countercurrents, with eastward velocity cores at 600 m depth, located 1.5â2.0° from the equator; and the south equatorial intermediate current, with a westward core at 900 m depth three or more degrees south of the equator. On the equator, the deep jets were nearly stationary during the period of these measurements. Comparison with earlier measurements shows that over longer periods the jets neither propagate uniformly nor stay in place
Seasonal oscillations in a mid-latitude ocean with barriers to deep flow
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
August, 1978A two-layer linear analytic model is used to study the
response of the mid-latitude ocean to the seasonal variation
of the windstress. The most important component of the response
is a barotropic quasi-steady Sverdrup balance.
A meridional ridge such as the Antilles Arc is modeled
as an infinitely thin meridional barrier that blocks the lower
layer but does not protrude into the
upper layer. It is found
that such a barrier has little effect on the upper layer flow
across the barrier. This result is obtained provided the frequency
of the motion is low enough so that free short Rossby
waves are essentially nondivergent. In this case there is
little coupling between the layers for energy propagating to
the east away from the barrier.
A study of the dynamics of flow over a sloping bottom
is made and the results are used to determine the effect on
seasonal oscillations of eastern boundary slopes and triangular
ridges. It is found that the presence of a slope at the
eastern boundary has little effect. A meridional ridge that
does not reach the interface may cause substantial scattering
of free Rossby waves, but unless the ridge is steep its
effect on the quasi-steady Sverdrup balance is minimal.
However, if the ridge height is a substantial fraction of the
lower layer depth and the width is comparable to the scale
of free short Rossby waves, the ridge will tend to block flow
in the lower layer, acting like the infinitely thin barrier.
The theory suggests that the Antilles Arc should have the
effect of a thin barrier, while the Mid-Atlantic Ridge should
have little effect on the response of the ocean to seasonal
wind variations.For three and a half years of generous financial support I am grateful to the John and Fannie Hertz Foundation, from which I received a Graduate Fellowship. Research money and other support were provided by the National Science Foundation under contract OCE 77 15600
The deep equatorial ocean circulation in wind-forced numerical solutions
We perform eddy-resolving and high-vertical-resolution numerical simulations of the circulation in an idealized equatorial Atlantic Ocean in order to explore the formation of the deep equatorial circulation (DEC) in this basin. Unlike in previous studies, the deep equatorial intraseasonal variability (DEIV) that is believed to be the source of the DEC is generated internally by instabilities of the upper ocean currents.
Two main simulations are discussed: Solution 1, configured with a rectangular basin and with wind forcing that is zonally and temporally uniform; and Solution 2, with realistic coastlines and with an annual cycle of wind forcing varying zonally. Somewhat surprisingly, Solution 1 produces the more realistic DEC: The large-vertical-scale currents (Equatorial Intermediate Currents or EICs) are found over a large zonal portion of the basin, and the small-vertical-scale equatorial currents (Equatorial Deep Jets or EDJs) form low-frequency, quasi-resonant, baroclinic equatorial basin modes with phase propagating mostly downward, consistent with observations. We demonstrate that both types of currents arise from the rectification of DEIV, consistent with previous theories. We also find that the EDJs contribute to maintaining the EICs, suggesting that the nonlinear energy transfer is more complex than previously thought. In Solution 2, the DEC is unrealistically weak and less spatially coherent than in the first simulation probably because of its weaker DEIV. Using intermediate solutions, we find that the main reason for this weaker DEIV is the use of realistic coastlines in Solution 2. It remains to be determined, what needs to be modified or included to obtain a realistic DEC in the more realistic configuration
Equatorial Pacific Subsurface Countercurrents: A ModelâData Comparison in Stream Coordinates
An isopycnal stream-coordinate analysis of velocity, transport, and potential vorticity (PV), recently applied to observations of the subsurface countercurrents (SCCs) in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, is applied here to the SCCs in a numerical general ocean circulation model, run by the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC). Each observed SCC core separates regions of nearly uniform potential vorticity: low on the equatorward side, high on the poleward side. Similar low-PV pools are found in the model, but the high-PV region poleward of the southern SCC is missing. The potential vorticity gradient in each core is weaker in the model than in observations, and relative vorticity plays only a minor role in the model. Its unusually high vertical resolution, with 55 levels, together with its weak lateral dissipation may be key factors in the JAMSTEC model\u27s ability to simulate SCCs
Antarctic circumpolar current transport through Drake Passage: What can we learn from comparing highâresolution model results to observations?
Uncertainty exists in the timeâmean total transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world's strongest ocean current. The two most recent observational programs in Drake Passage, DRAKE and cDrake, yielded transports of 141 and 173.3 Sv, respectively. In this paper, we use a realistic 1/12° global ocean simulation to interpret these observational estimates and reconcile their differences. We first show that the modeled ACC transport in the upper 1,000 m is in excellent agreement with repeat shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (SADCP) transects and that the exponentially decaying transport profile in the model is consistent with the profile derived from repeat hydrographic data. By further comparing the model results to the cDrake and DRAKE observations, we argue that the modeled 157.3 Sv transport, that is, approximately the average of the cDrake and DRAKE estimates, is actually representative of the timeâmean ACC transport through the Drake Passage. The cDrake experiment overestimated the barotropic contribution in part because the array undersampled the deep recirculation southwest of the Shackleton Fracture Zone, whereas the surface geostrophic currents used in the DRAKE estimate yielded a weaker nearâsurface transport than implied by the SADCP data. We also find that the modeled baroclinic and barotropic transports are not correlated; thus, monitoring either baroclinic or barotropic transport alone may be insufficient to assess the temporal variability of the total ACC transport
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