Steady-state frictional geostrophic circulation in a one-layer ocean model with thermodynamics |
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| Authors: | R B Scott A J Willmott |
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| Institution: | a Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Building 600, Austin, TX 78759, USA;b Department of Mathematics, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK |
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| Abstract: | The governing equations are developed for a steady-state frictional geostrophic inhomogeneous 1.5-layer ocean model, with horizontal velocity field that is linearly sheared in the vertical coordinate. We show that in the adiabatic, thermally non-diffusive limit there are an infinite number of solutions for the temperature and depth fields of the subtropical gyre even with the constraint of identical mass within each temperature range. In the non-adiabatic case, a unique subtropical gyre solution exists that can exhibit a temperature front, containing an unbounded meridional gradient, in the northwest corner of the solution domain. The role of mixing of enthalpy in the western boundary layer (WBL) region was investigated by comparing the two extreme cases of no mixing and complete mixing of enthalpy in this region. Also investigated was the dependence of the meridional heat transport on the air–sea heat exchange coefficient, κ. The temperature field was found to be strongly influenced by mixing. However, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the heat transport is similar in the model with and without mixing. The heat transport attains a single local maximum at κ=κc, that lies within values that are oceanographically relevant. |
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| Keywords: | Ocean circulation Western boundary current Poleward heat transfer Mixing Multiple equilibria Oceanic fronts |
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