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1.
Irregular centennial oscillations, with a spectral peak at 106 years, were obtained from an ocean-ice coupled model for the North Atlantic with realistic coastline and bottom topography. The model’s thermohaline circulation is forced by mixed boundary conditions, i.e., a Haney-type relaxation condition for temperature, but an equivalent virtual salt flux condition for salinity. All forcing fields are taken from the observed monthly mean climatological wind stress and buoyancy fluxes. The oscillations appeared in the form of a surface-intensified tripole in both the sea surface temperature and salinity fields located in the vicinity of the Labrador Sea. The oscillations involve a delicate interplay between heat and fresh water advection by meridional overturning circulation, horizontal gyres, vertical convection, and the seasonal cycle. The oscillations are primarily control?led by the salinity component of the circulation; however, sea ice plays a minor role in driving the oscillations observed in the model. On the other hand, a regular seasonal cycle in the forcing fields is an important ingredient for the centennial oscillations. 相似文献
2.
本文是用简单海一气耦合模型模拟温盐环流在全球增暖事件中作用的研究工作的第一部分。为了建立一个简单海一气耦合模型，我们首先根据Ｗｒｉｇｈｔ和Ｓｔｏｋｅｒ等人的设计复制出一个包括大西洋、太平洋和南大洋在内的二维温盐环流模式，从等温、等盐和无运动的初始状态出发，在给定的年平均海表强迫下将模式积分了４０００年，模拟出了和原作相似的温盐环流。对模拟结果的分析表明，相对于北太平洋而言，北大西洋北部的高盐、低温特点（后者是由两大洋在地理上的差别决定的）是形成当代温盐环流的主要原因；从与温盐环流相联系的海表热通量来看，北大西洋北部是向大气提供热量的主要源地；模式温盐环流对于海表盐度通量的敏感性试验的结果表明，对于纬圈平均的二维模式而言，要想模拟出合理的温盐环流就必须人为地提高北大西洋北部的海表盐度，文章分析了这种作法的物理根据；模式中的对流过程对于温盐环流的维持是至关重要的，对比有无季节循环的试验结果可以看出，虽然温度场的明显的季节变化只出现在模式的最上面两层，但由于引进季节循环后冬季高纬海洋的对流活动加强，后者直接影响到温盐环流，使更多的深海热量上传并向大气释放。这是使海洋温跃层得以保持合理．厚度的一个重要原因。 相似文献
3.
A two-dimensional, three-basin ocean model suitable for long-term climate studies is developed. The model is based on the zonally averaged form of the primitive equations written in spherical coordinates. The east-west density difference which arises upon averaging the momentum equations is taken to be proportional to the meridional density gradient. Lateral exchanges of heat and salt between the basins are explicitly resolved. Moreover, the model includes bottom topography and has representations of the Arctic Ocean and of the Weddell and Ross seas. Under realistic restoring boundary conditions, the model reproduces the global conveyor belt: deep water is formed in the Atlantic between 60 and 70°N at a rate of about 17 Sv (1 Sv=106 m3 s–1) and in the vicinity of the Antarctic continent, while the Indian and Pacific basins show broad upwelling. Superimposed on this thermohaline circulation are vigorous wind-driven cells in the upper thermocline. The simulated temperature and salinity fields and the computed meridional heat transport compare reasonably well with the observational estimates. When mixed boundary conditions (i.e., a restoring condition on sea-surface temperature and flux condition on sea-surface salinity) are applied, the model exhibits an irregular behavior before reaching a steady state characterized by self-sustained oscillations of 8.5-y period. The conveyor-belt circulation always results at this stage. A series of perturbation experiments illustrates the ability of the model to reproduce different steady-state circulations under mixed boundary conditions. Finally, the model sensitivity to various factors is examined. This sensitivity study reveals that the bottom topography and the presence of a submarine meridional ridge in the zone of the Drake Passage play a crucial role in determining the properties of the model bottom-water masses. The importance of the seasonality of the surface forcing is also stressed. 相似文献
4.
The stability of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation against meltwater input is investigated in a coupled ocean-atmosphere
general circulation model. The meltwater input to the Labrador Sea is increased linearly for 250 years to a maximum input
of 0.625 Sv and then reduced again to 0 (both instantaneously and linearly decreasing over 250 years). The resulting freshening
forces a shutdown of the formation of North Atlantic deepwater and a subsequent reversal of the thermohaline circulation of
the Atlantic, filling the deep Atlantic with Antarctic bottom water. The change in the overturning pattern causes a drastic
reduction of the Atlantic northward heat transport, resulting in a strong cooling with maximum amplitude over the northern
North Atlantic and a southward shift of the sea-ice margin in the Atlantic. Due to the increased meridional temperature gradient,
the intertropical convergence zone over the Atlantic is displaced southward and the westerlies in the Northern Hemisphere
gain strength. We identify four main feedbacks affecting the stability of the thermohaline circulation: the change in the
overturning circulation of the Atlantic leads to longer residence times of the surface water in high-northern latitudes, which
allows them to accumulate more precipitation and runoff from the continents. As a consequence the stratification in the North
Atlantic becomes more stable. This effect is further amplified by an enhanced northward atmospheric water vapour transport,
which increases the freshwater input into the North Atlantic. The reduced northward oceanic heat transport leads to colder
sea-surface temperatures and an intensification of the atmospheric cyclonic circulation over the Norwegian Sea. The associated
Ekman transports cause increased upwelling and increased freshwater export with the East Greenland Current. Both the cooling
and the wind-driven circulation changes largely compensate for the effects of the first two feedbacks. The wind-stress feedback
destabilizes modes without deep water formation in the North Atlantic, but has been neglected in almost all studies so far.
After the meltwater input stops, the North Atlantic deepwater formation resumed in all experiments and the meridional overturning
returned within 200 years to a conveyor belt pattern. This happened although the formation of North Atlantic deep water was
suppressed in one experiment for more than 300 years and the Atlantic overturning had settled into a circulation pattern with
Antarctic bottom water as the only source of deep water. It is a clear indication that cooling and wind-stress feedback are
more effective, at least in our model, than advection feedback and increased atmospheric water vapour transport. We conclude
that the conveyor belt-type thermohaline circulation seems to be much more stable than hitherto assumed from experiments with
simpler models.
Received 31 January 1996/Accepted 22 August 1996 相似文献
5.
Most state-of-the art global coupled models simulate a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC)
in climate change scenarios but the mechanisms leading to this weakening are still being debated. The third version of the
CNRM (Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques) global atmosphere-ocean-sea ice coupled model (CNRM-CM3) was used to
conduct climate change experiments for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4).
The analysis of the A1B scenario experiment shows that global warming leads to a slowdown of North Atlantic deep ocean convection
and thermohaline circulation south of Iceland. This slowdown is triggered by a freshening of the Arctic Ocean and an increase
in freshwater outflow through Fram Strait. Sea ice melting in the Barents Sea induces a local amplification of the surface
warming, which enhances the cyclonic atmospheric circulation around Spitzberg. This anti-clockwise circulation forces an increase
in Fram Strait outflow and a simultaneous increase in ocean transport of warm waters toward the Barents Sea, favouring further
sea ice melting and surface warming in the Barents Sea. Additionally, the retreat of sea ice allows more deep water formation
north of Iceland and the thermohaline circulation strengthens there. The transport of warm and saline waters toward the Barents
Sea is further enhanced, which constitutes a second positive feedback. 相似文献
6.
We describe the use of bivariate three-dimensional empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) in characterising low frequency variability of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC) in the Hadley Centre global climate model, HadCM3. We find that the leading two modes are well correlated with an index of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) on decadal timescales, with the leading mode alone accounting for 54% of the decadal variance. Episodes of coherent oscillations in the sub-space of the leading EOFs are identified; these episodes are of great interest for the predictability of the THC, and could indicate the existence of different regimes of natural variability. The mechanism identified for the multi-decadal variability is an internal ocean mode, dominated by changes in convection in the Nordic Seas, which lead the changes in the MOC by a few years. Variations in salinity transports from the Arctic and from the North Atlantic are the main feedbacks which control the oscillation. This mode has a weak feedback onto the atmosphere and hence a surface climatic influence. Interestingly, some of these climate impacts lead the changes in the overturning. There are also similarities to observed multi-decadal climate variability. 相似文献
7.
Experiments with the coupled climate model CLIMBER-3α, which contains an oceanic general circulation model, show deep upwelling in the Southern Ocean to be proportional to
the surface wind stress in the latitudinal band of Drake Passage. At the same time, the distribution of the Southern Ocean
upwelling onto the oceanic basins is controlled by buoyancy distribution; the inflow into each basin being proportional to
the respective meridional density difference. We observe approximately the same constant of proportionality for all basins,
and demonstrate that it can be directly related to the flow geometry. For increased wind stress in the Southern Ocean, the
overturning increases both in the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific basin. For strongly reduced wind stress, the circulation enters
a regime where Atlantic overturning is maintained through Pacific upwelling, in order to satisfy the transports set by the
density differences. Previous results on surface buoyancy and wind stress forcing, obtained with different models, are reproduced
within one model in order to distill a consistent picture. We propose that both Southern Ocean upwelling and meridional density
differences set up a system of conditions that determine the global meridional overturning circulation. 相似文献
8.
Atmosphere?Cocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) predict a weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) in response to anthropogenic forcing of climate, but there is a large model uncertainty in the magnitude of the predicted change. The weakening of the AMOC is generally understood to be the result of increased buoyancy input to the north Atlantic in a warmer climate, leading to reduced convection and deep water formation. Consistent with this idea, model analyses have shown empirical relationships between the AMOC and the meridional density gradient, but this link is not direct because the large-scale ocean circulation is essentially geostrophic, making currents and pressure gradients orthogonal. Analysis of the budget of kinetic energy (KE) instead of momentum has the advantage of excluding the dominant geostrophic balance. Diagnosis of the KE balance of the HadCM3 AOGCM and its low-resolution version FAMOUS shows that KE is supplied to the ocean by the wind and dissipated by viscous forces in the global mean of the steady-state control climate, and the circulation does work against the pressure-gradient force, mainly in the Southern Ocean. In the Atlantic Ocean, however, the pressure-gradient force does work on the circulation, especially in the high-latitude regions of deep water formation. During CO2-forced climate change, we demonstrate a very good temporal correlation between the AMOC strength and the rate of KE generation by the pressure-gradient force in 50?C70°N of the Atlantic Ocean in each of nine contemporary AOGCMs, supporting a buoyancy-driven interpretation of AMOC changes. To account for this, we describe a conceptual model, which offers an explanation of why AOGCMs with stronger overturning in the control climate tend to have a larger weakening under CO2 increase. 相似文献
9.
We use a coarse resolution ocean general circulation model to study the relation between meridional pressure and density gradients in the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. In several experiments, we artificially modify the meridional density gradients by applying different magnitudes of the Gent–McWilliams isopycnal eddy diffusion coefficients in the Southern Ocean and in the North Atlantic and investigate the response of the simulated Atlantic meridional overturning to such changes. The simulations are carried out close to the limit of no diapycnal mixing, with a very small explicit vertical diffusivity and a tracer advection scheme with very low implicit diffusivities. Our results reveal that changes in eddy diffusivities in the North Atlantic affect the maximum of the Atlantic meridional overturning, but not the outflow of North Atlantic Deep Water into the Southern Ocean. In contrast, changes in eddy diffusivities in the Southern Ocean affect both the South Atlantic outflow of North Atlantic Deep Water and the maximum of the Atlantic meridional overturning. Results from these experiments are used to investigate the relation between meridional pressure gradients and the components of the Atlantic meridional overturning. Pressure gradients and overturning are found to be linearly related. We show that, in our simulations, zonally averaged deep pressure gradients are very weak between 20°S and about 30°N and that between 30°N and 60°N the zonally averaged pressure grows approximately linearly with latitude. This pressure difference balances a westward geostrophic flow at 30–40°N that feeds the southbound deep Atlantic western boundary current. We extend our analysis to a large variety of experiments in which surface freshwater forcing, vertical mixing and winds are modified. In all experiments, the pycnocline depth, assumed to be the relevant vertical scale for the northward volume transport in the Atlantic, is found to be approximately constant, at least within the coarse vertical resolution of the model. The model behaviour hence cannot directly be related to conceptual models in which changes in the pycnocline depth determine the strength of Atlantic meridional flow, and seems conceptually closer to Stommel’s box model. In all our simulations, the Atlantic overturning seems to be mainly driven by Southern Ocean westerlies. However, the actual strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning is not determined solely by the Southern Ocean wind stress but as well by the density/pressure gradients created between the deep water formation regions in the North Atlantic and the inflow/outflow region in the South Atlantic. 相似文献
10.
D. Swingedouw P. Braconnot P. Delecluse E. Guilyardi O. Marti 《Climate Dynamics》2007,28(2-3):291-305
On the time scale of a century, the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC) is sensitive to the global surface salinity distribution. The advection of salinity toward the deep convection sites of the North Atlantic is one of the driving mechanisms for the THC. There is both a northward and a southward contributions. The northward salinity advection (Nsa) is related to the evaporation in the subtropics, and contributes to increased salinity in the convection sites. The southward salinity advection (Ssa) is related to the Arctic freshwater forcing and tends on the contrary to diminish salinity in the convection sites. The THC changes results from a delicate balance between these opposing mechanisms. In this study we evaluate these two effects using the IPSL-CM4 ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice coupled model (used for IPCC AR4). Perturbation experiments have been integrated for 100 years under modern insolation and trace gases. River runoff and evaporation minus precipitation are successively set to zero for the ocean during the coupling procedure. This allows the effect of processes Nsa and Ssa to be estimated with their specific time scales. It is shown that the convection sites in the North Atlantic exhibit various sensitivities to these processes. The Labrador Sea exhibits a dominant sensitivity to local forcing and Ssa with a typical time scale of 10 years, whereas the Irminger Sea is mostly sensitive to Nsa with a 15 year time scale. The GIN Seas respond to both effects with a time scale of 10 years for Ssa and 20 years for Nsa. It is concluded that, in the IPSL-CM4, the global freshwater forcing damps the THC on centennial time scales. 相似文献
11.
卑尔根气候模式中大西洋热盐环流年代际与年际变率的气候影响 总被引：12，自引：3，他引：9
利用一个全球海气耦合模式--卑尔根气候模式的积分结果,揭示了与大西洋热盐环流(THC)年代际和年际振荡相对应的气候异常型.年代际振荡发生在全海盆尺度,伴有亚速尔高压的增强、冰岛低压的加深;年际振荡发生在局地尺度,伴有亚速尔高压的减弱.这两种海平面气压异常型都反映了北大西洋涛动(NAO)活动中心的强度变化,两种变率型对应的拉布拉多海对流活动都加剧.但伴随局地尺度的THC调整,伊尔明格海的对流活动减弱.蒸发异常对拉布拉多海表层盐度异常的影响较为显著.分析表明,局地尺度的THC振荡主要是对大气强迫的被动响应,而海盆尺度THC振荡的实质是反映整个输送带的强度变化,其气候意义要大于THC的局地振荡. 相似文献
12.
Two climatic states and feedbacks on thermohaline circulation in an Earth system model of intermediate complexity 总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5
Zhaomin Wang 《Climate Dynamics》2005,25(2-3):299-314
The McGill Paleoclimate Model-2 (MPM-2) is employed to study climate–thermohaline circulation (THC) interactions in a pre
-industrial climate, with a special focus on the feedbacks on the THC from other climate system components. The MPM-2, a new
version of the MPM, has an extended model domain from 90S to 90N, active winds and no oceanic heat and freshwater flux adjustments.
In the MPM-2, there are mainly two stable modes for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) under the ‘present-day’
forcing (present-day solar forcing and the pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 level of 280 ppm). The ‘on’ mode has an active North Atlantic deep water formation, while the ‘off’ mode has no such deep
water formation. By comparing the ‘off’ mode climate state with its ‘on’ mode analogue, we find that there exist many large
differences between the two climate states, which originate from large changes in the oceanic meridional heat transports.
By suppressing or isolating each process associated with a continental ice sheet over North America, sea ice, the atmospheric
hydrological cycle and vegetation, feedbacks from these components on the Atlantic MOC are investigated. Sensitivity studies
investigating the role of varying continental ice growth and sea ice meridional transport in the resumption of the Atlantic
MOC are also carried out. The results show that a fast ice sheet growth and an enhanced southward sea ice transport significantly
favor the resumption of the Atlantic MOC in the MPM-2. In contrast to this, the feedback from the atmospheric hydrological
cycle is a weak positive one. The vegetation-albedo feedback could enhance continental ice sheet growth and thus could also
favor the resumption of the Atlantic MOC. However, before the shut-down of the Atlantic MOC, feedbacks from these components
on the Atlantic MOC are very weak. 相似文献
13.
The North Atlantic is one of the few places on the globe where the atmosphere is linked to the deep ocean through air–sea
interaction. While the internal variability of the atmosphere by itself is only predictable over a period of one to two weeks,
climate variations are potentially predictable for much longer periods of months or even years because of coupling with the
ocean. This work presents details from the first study to quantify the predictability for simulated multidecadal climate variability
over the North Atlantic. The model used for this purpose is the GFDL coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model used extensively
for studies of global warming and natural climate variability. This model contains fluctuations of the North Atlantic and
high-latitude oceanic circulation with variability concentrated in the 40–60 year range. Oceanic predictability is quantified
through analysis of the time-dependent behavior of large-scale empirical orthogonal function (EOF) patterns for the meridional
stream function, dynamic topography, 170 m temperature, surface temperature and surface salinity. The results indicate that
predictability in the North Atlantic depends on three main physical mechanisms. The first involves the oceanic deep convection
in the subpolar region which acts to integrate atmospheric fluctuations, thus providing for a red noise oceanic response as
elaborated by Hasselmann. The second involves the large-scale dynamics of the thermohaline circulation, which can cause the
oceanic variations to have an oscillatory character on the multidecadal time scale. The third involves nonlocal effects on
the North Atlantic arising from periodic anomalous fresh water transport advecting southward from the polar regions in the
East Greenland Current. When the multidecadal oscillatory variations of the thermohaline circulation are active, the first
and second EOF patterns for the North Atlantic dynamic topography have predictability time scales on the order of 10–20 y,
whereas EOF-1 of SST has predictability time scales of 5–7 y. When the thermohaline variability has weak multidecadal power,
the Hasselmann mechanism is dominant and the predictability is reduced by at least a factor of two. When the third mechanism
is in an extreme phase, the North Atlantic dynamic topography patterns realize a 10–20 year predictability time scale. Additional
analysis of SST in the Greenland Sea, in a region associated with the southward propagating fresh water anomalies, indicates
the potential for decadal scale predictability for this high latitude region as well. The model calculations also allow insight
into regional variations of predictability, which might be useful information for the design of a monitoring system for the
North Atlantic. Predictability appears to break down most rapidly in regions of active convection in the high-latitude regions
of the North Atlantic.
Received: 28 October 1996 / Accepted: 21 March 1997 相似文献
14.
The results from an integration of a global ocean circulation model have been condensed into an analysis of the volume, heat, and salt transports among the major ocean basins. Transports are also broken down between the model's Ekman, thermocline, and deep layers. Overall, the model does well. Horizontal exchanges of mass, heat, and salt between ocean basins have reasonable values; and the volume of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) transport is in general agreement with what limited observations exist. On a global basis the zonally integrated meridional heat transport is poleward at all latitudes except for the latitude band 30°S to 45°S. This anomalous transport is most likely a signature of the model's inability to form Antarctic Intermediate (AAIW) and Antarctic bottom water (AABW) properly. Eddy heat transport is strong at the equator where its convergence heats the equatorial Pacific about twice as much as it heats the equatorial Atlantic. The greater heating in the Pacific suggests that mesoscale eddies may be a vital mechanism for warming and maintaining an upwelling portion of the global conveyor-belt circulation. The model's fresh water transport compares well with observations. However, in the Atlantic there is an excessive southward transport of fresh water due to the absence of the Mediterranean outflow and weak northward flow of AAIW. Eddies in the mid-latitudes act to redistribute heat and salt down the mean gradients. Residual fluxes calculated from a sum of the computed advective (including eddies), forced, and stored fluxes of heat and salt represent transport mostly due to vertical sub-grid scale mixing processes. Perhaps the model's greatest weakness is the lack of strong AAIW and AABW circulation cells. Accurate thermohaline forcing in the North Atlantic (based on numerous hydrographic observations) helps the model adequately produce NADW. In contrast, the southern ocean is an area of sparse observation. Better thermohaline observations in this area may be needed if models such as this are to produce the deep convection that will achieve more accurate simulations of the global 3-dimensional circulation. 相似文献
15.
Stabilization of thermohaline circulation by wind-driven and vertical diffusive salt transport 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
The stability of the thermohaline circulation is investigated using an ocean general circulation model coupled to a simple
atmospheric model. The atmospheric model is so developed that it represents the wind stress and the freshwater flux more realistically
than existing energy balance models. The coupled model can reproduce the realistic deep ocean circulation without any flux
adjustment. Effects of the wind stress and the vertical diffusion on the thermohaline circulation are studied by conducting
various experiments with the coupled model. The Ekman upwelling between 60∘N and 90∘N brings up salt to the sea surface, while the compensation flow of the Ekman transport and the wind-driven gyre circulation
between 30∘N and 60∘N carry salt horizontally to the high latitudes. By carrying out experiments where the wind stress is completely or partly
removed, it is demonstrated that either of the vertical or the horizontal salt transport prevents the halocline formation
at high latitudes and maintains the thermohaline circulation. For an experiment in which the vertical diffusivity is enhanced
at high latitudes, it is shown that the vertical diffusion at high latitudes also prevents the halocline formation and stabilizes
the thermohaline circulation. It is also shown that the value of the vertical diffusivity at high latitude affects the existence
of the multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation.
Received: 26 April 2000 / Accepted: 10 January 2001 相似文献
16.
全球海气耦合模式中热盐环流对大气强迫的响应 总被引：16，自引：4，他引：16
大气环流与热盐环流 (THC)变化之间的因果关系 ,是海气相互作用研究领域的一个悬而未决的问题。作者利用一个全球海气耦合模式 -挪威卑尔根气候模式 (BCM)的 3 0 0a积分结果 ,讨论了冬季北大西洋涛动 (NAO)对海洋的强迫与热盐环流的年际调整之间的关系。结果发现 ,在NAO活动的正位相 ,伴随着中纬度西风带的加强 ,北大西洋拉布拉多海热通量损失剧增 ,同时海表盐度出现正距平 ,二者的共同作用 ,令表层海水变沉、密度增大 ,海洋层结出现不稳定 ,导致深对流发生。在NAO活动达到最强劲状态之后 3个月 ,拉布拉多海对流也达到最深。北大西洋热盐环流强度变化对拉布拉多海对流活动的响应 ,要滞后 3a左右。而在年际尺度上 ,大西洋的极向热输送变化和热盐环流的变化则基本是同步的。对流活动对大气存在明显的反馈作用。在对流活动深度达到最大之后 1～4个月 ,对流热释放令拉布拉多海表层气温明显升高 相似文献
17.
We investigate the formation process and pathways of deep water masses in a coupled ice–ocean model of the Arctic and North
Atlantic Oceans. The intent is to determine the relative roles of these water masses from the different source regions (Arctic
Ocean, Nordic Seas, and Subpolar Atlantic) in the meridional overturning circulation. The model exhibits significant decadal
variability in the deep western boundary current and the overturning circulation. We use detailed diagnostics to understand
the process of water mass formation in the model and the resulting effects on the North Atlantic overturning circulation.
Particular emphasis is given to the multiple sources of North Atlantic Deep Water, the dominant deep water masses of the world
ocean. The correct balance of Labrador Sea, Greenland Sea and Norwegian Sea sources is difficult to achieve in climate models,
owing to small-scale sinking and convection processes. The global overturning circulation is described as a function of potential
temperature and salinity, which more clearly signifies dynamical processes and clarifies resolution problems inherent to the
high latitude oceans. We find that fluxes of deep water masses through various passages in the model are higher than observed
estimates. Despite the excessive volume flux, the Nordic Seas overflow waters are diluted by strong mixing and enter the Labrador
Sea at a lighter density. Through strong subpolar convection, these waters along with other North Atlantic water masses are
converted into the densest waters [similar density to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW)] in the North Atlantic. We describe the
diminished role of salinity in the Labrador Sea, where a shortage of buoyant surface water (or excess of high salinity water)
leads to overly strong convection. The result is that the Atlantic overturning circulation in the model is very sensitive
to the surface heat flux in the Labrador Sea and hence is correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation. As strong subpolar
convection is found in other models, we discuss broader implications. 相似文献
18.
Masakazu Yoshimori Christoph C. Raible Thomas F. Stocker Manuel Renold 《Climate Dynamics》2010,34(1):101-121
The significance of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) for regional and hemispheric climate change requires
a complete understanding using fully coupled climate models. Here we present a persistent, decadal oscillation in a coupled
atmosphere–ocean general circulation model. While the present study is limited by the lack of comparisons with paleo-proxy
records, the purpose is to reveal a new theoretically interesting solution found in the fully-coupled climate model. The model
exhibits two multi-century-long stable states with one dominated by decadal MOC oscillations. The oscillations involve an
interaction between anomalous advective transport of salt and surface density in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. Their time
scale is fundamentally determined by the advection. In addition, there is a link between the MOC oscillations and North Atlantic
Oscillation (NAO)-like sea level pressure anomalies. The analysis suggests an interaction between the NAO and an anomalous
subpolar gyre circulation in which sea ice near and south of the Labrador Sea plays an important role in generating a large
local thermal anomaly and a meridional temperature gradient. The latter induces a positive feedback via synoptic eddy activity
in the atmosphere. In addition, the oscillation only appears when the Nordic Sea is completely covered by sea ice in winter,
and deep convection is active only near the Irminger Sea. Such conditions are provided by a substantially colder North Atlantic
climate than today. 相似文献
19.
《大气与海洋》2013,51(2):81-92
Abstract Evidence based on numerical simulations is presented for a strong correlation between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the North Atlantic overturning circulation. Using an ensemble of numerical experiments with a coupled ocean‐atmosphere model including both natural and anthropogenic forcings, it is shown that the weakening of the thermohaline circulation (THC) could be delayed in response to a sustained upward trend in the NAO, which was observed over the last three decades of the twentieth century, 1970–99. Overall warming and enhanced horizontal transports of heat from the tropics to the subpolar North Atlantic overwhelm the NAO‐induced cooling of the upper ocean layers due to enhanced fluxes of latent and sensible heat, so that the net effect of warmed surface ocean temperatures acts to increase the vertical stability of the ocean column. However, the strong westerly winds cause increased evaporation from the ocean surface, which leads to a reduced fresh water flux over the western part of the North Atlantic. Horizontal poleward transport of salinity anomalies from the tropical Atlantic is the major contributor to the increasing salinities in the sinking regions of the North Atlantic. The effect of positive salinity anomalies on surface ocean density overrides the opposing effect of enhanced warming of the ocean surface, which causes an increase in surface density in the Labrador Sea and in the ocean area south of Greenland. The increased density of the upper ocean layer leads to deeper convection in the Labrador Sea and in the western North Atlantic. With a lag of four years, the meridional overturning circulation of the North Atlantic shows strengthening as it adjusts to positive density anomalies and enhanced vertical mixing. During the positive NAO trend, the salinity‐driven density instability in the upper ocean, due to both increased northward ocean transports of salinity and decreased atmospheric freshwater fluxes, results in a strengthening overturning circulation in the North Atlantic when the surface atmospheric temperature increases by 0.3°C and the ocean surface temperature warms by 0.5° to 1°C. 相似文献
20.
A box model of the inter-hemispheric Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is developed, including a variable pycnocline depth for the tropical and subtropical regions. The circulation is forced by winds over a periodic channel in the south and by freshwater forcing at the surface. The model is aimed at investigating the ocean feedbacks related to perturbations in freshwater forcing from the atmosphere, and to changes in freshwater transport in the ocean. These feedbacks are closely connected with the stability properties of the meridional overturning circulation, in particular in response to freshwater perturbations. A separate box is used for representing the region north of the Antarctic circumpolar current in the Atlantic sector. The density difference between this region and the north of the basin is then used for scaling the downwelling in the north. These choices are essential for reproducing the sensitivity of the meridional overturning circulation observed in general circulation models, and therefore suggest that the southernmost part of the Atlantic Ocean north of the Drake Passage is of fundamental importance for the stability of the meridional overturning circulation. With this configuration, the magnitude of the freshwater transport by the southern subtropical gyre strongly affects the response of the meridional overturning circulation to external forcing. The role of the freshwater transport by the overturning circulation (M ov ) as a stability indicator is discussed. It is investigated under which conditions its sign at the latitude of the southern tip of Africa can provide information on the existence of a second, permanently shut down, state of the overturning circulation in the box model. M ov will be an adequate indicator of the existence of multiple equilibria only if salt-advection feedback dominates over other processes in determining the response of the circulation to freshwater anomalies. M ov is a perfect indicator if feedbacks other than salt-advection are negligible. 相似文献