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    Wind-forced variability of the remote meridional overturning circulation

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    Article (2.396Mb)
    Date
    2020-02-10
    Author
    Spall, Michael A.  Concept link
    Nieves, David  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/25608
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-19-0190.1
    DOI
    10.1175/JPO-D-19-0190.1
    Keyword
     Meridional overturning circulation; Ocean circulation; Rossby waves; Thermocline circulation 
    Abstract
    The mechanisms by which time-dependent wind stress anomalies at midlatitudes can force variability in the meridional overturning circulation at low latitudes are explored. It is shown that winds are effective at forcing remote variability in the overturning circulation when forcing periods are near the midlatitude baroclinic Rossby wave basin-crossing time. Remote overturning is required by an imbalance in the midlatitude mass storage and release resulting from the dependence of the Rossby wave phase speed on latitude. A heuristic theory is developed that predicts the strength and frequency dependence of the remote overturning well when compared to a two-layer numerical model. The theory indicates that the variable overturning strength, relative to the anomalous Ekman transport, depends primarily on the ratio of the meridional spatial scale of the anomalous wind stress curl to its latitude. For strongly forced systems, a mean deep western boundary current can also significantly enhance the overturning variability at all latitudes. For sufficiently large thermocline displacements, the deep western boundary current alternates between interior and near-boundary pathways in response to fluctuations in the wind, leading to large anomalies in the volume of North Atlantic Deep Water stored at midlatitudes and in the downstream deep western boundary current transport.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 50(2), (2020): 455-469, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-19-0190.1.
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    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    Suggested Citation
    Spall, M. A., & Nieves, D. (2020). Wind-forced variability of the remote meridional overturning circulation. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 50(2), 455-469.
     

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