Heaving modes in the world oceans
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7707As published
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2557-6DOI
10.1007/s00382-015-2557-6Keyword
Adiabatic motions; Heaving; Subtropical and subpolar gyres; Southern oceans; Baroclinic modes of heating content anomaly; Wind-driven circulation; Climate variability of heat contentAbstract
Part of climate changes on decadal time scales can be interpreted as the result of adiabatic motions associated with the adjustment of wind-driven circulation, i.e., the heaving of the isopycnal surfaces. Heat content changes in the ocean, including hiatus of global surface temperature and other phenomena, can be interpreted in terms of heaving associated with adjustment of wind-driven circulation induced by decadal variability of wind. A simple reduced gravity model is used to examine the consequence of adiabatic adjustment of the wind-driven circulation. Decadal changes in wind stress forcing can induce three-dimensional redistribution of warm water in the upper ocean. In particular, wind stress change can generate baroclinic modes of heat content anomaly in the vertical direction; in fact, changes in stratification observed in the ocean may be induced by wind stress change at local or in the remote parts of the world oceans. Intensification of the equatorial easterly can induce cooling in the upper layer and warming in the subsurface layer. The combination of this kind of heat content anomaly with the general trend of warming of the whole water column under the increasing greenhouse effect may offer an explanation for the hiatus of global surface temperature and the accelerating subsurface warming over the past 10–15 years. Furthermore, the meridional transport of warm water in the upper ocean can lead to sizeable transient meridional overturning circulation, poleward heat flux and vertical heat flux. Thus, heaving plays a key role in the oceanic circulation and climate.
Description
© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Climate Dynamics 45 (2015): 3563-3591, doi:10.1007/s00382-015-2557-6.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Climate Dynamics 45 (2015): 3563-3591The following license files are associated with this item:
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Influences of Pacific climate variability on decadal subsurface ocean heat content variations in the Indian Ocean
Jin, Xiaolin; Kwon, Young-Oh; Ummenhofer, Caroline C.; Seo, Hyodae; Schwarzkopf, Franziska U.; Biastoch, Arne; Böning, Claus W.; Wright, Jonathon S. (American Meteorological Society, 2018-04-30)Decadal variabilities in Indian Ocean subsurface ocean heat content (OHC; 50–300 m) since the 1950s are examined using ocean reanalyses. This study elaborates on how Pacific variability modulates the Indian Ocean on decadal ... -
Widespread influence of resuspended sediments on oceanic particulate organic carbon : insights from radiocarbon and aluminum contents in sinking particles
Hwang, Jeomshik; Druffel, Ellen R. M.; Eglinton, Timothy I. (American Geophysical Union, 2010-11-20)Particulate organic carbon (POC) in the ocean often exhibits more depleted radiocarbon contents (lower Δ 14C values) than expected if its sole source were POC recently synthesized by primary production and export from the ... -
Argo array observation of ocean heat content changes induced by tropical cyclones in the north Pacific
Park, Jong Jin; Kwon, Young-Oh; Price, James F. (American Geophysical Union, 2011-12-16)In situ observations from the autonomous Argo float array are used to assess the basin-averaged ocean heat content change driven by tropical cyclones (TCs) in the North Pacific for 2000–2008. A new statistical approach ...