Can paleoceanographic tracers constrain meridional circulation rates?
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4142As published
https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo3018.1DOI
10.1175/jpo3018.1Keyword
Tracers; Transport; Paleoclimatology; Ocean modelsAbstract
The ability of paleoceanographic tracers to constrain rates of transport is examined using an inverse method to combine idealized observations with a geostrophic model. Considered are the spatial distribution, accuracy, and types of tracers required to constrain changes in meridional transport within an idealized single-hemisphere basin. Measurements of density and radioactive tracers each act to constrain rates of transport. Conservative tracers, while not of themselves able to inform regarding rates of transport, improve constraints when coupled with density or radioactive observations. It is found that the tracer data would require an accuracy one order of magnitude better than is presently available for paleo-observations to conclusively rule out factor-of-2 changes in meridional transport, even when assumed available over the entire model domain. When data are available only at the margins and bottom of the model, radiocarbon is unable to constrain transport while density remains effective only when a reference velocity level is assumed. The difficulty in constraining the circulation in this idealized model indicates that placing firm bounds on past meridional transport rates will prove challenging.
Description
Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2007. 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 37 (2007): 394-407, doi:10.1175/jpo3018.1.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Journal of Physical Oceanography 37 (2007): 394-407Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Mixing in the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment : observations and numerical simulations of Lagrangian particles and passive tracer
Sundermeyer, Miles A. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1995-09)Mixing and stirring of passive tracer and Lagrangian particles in the open ocean was studied through comparison of observations from the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment, a numerical model, and existing theory. ... -
Time series measurements of transient tracers and tracer-derived transport in the Deep Western Boundary Current between the Labrador Sea and the subtropical Atlantic Ocean at Line W
Smith, John N.; Smethie, William M.; Yashayaev, Igor; Curry, Ruth G.; Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko (John Wiley & Sons, 2016-11-10)Time series measurements of the nuclear fuel reprocessing tracer 129I and the gas ventilation tracer CFC-11 were undertaken on the AR7W section in the Labrador Sea (1997–2014) and on Line W (2004–2014), located over the ... -
Radium isotopes as tracers of boundary inputs of nutrients and trace elements to the coastal and open ocean
Kipp, Lauren (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2018-09)Nutrients and trace metals are vital for supporting life in the ocean, but the boundary processes that control the distributions of these elements are poorly constrained. Radium isotopes are well suited to studying inputs ...