Numerical study of the meridional overturning circulation with “mixing hotspots” in the Pacific Ocean

Using an idealized ocean general circulation model, we examine the effect of “mixing hotspots” (localized regions of intense diapycnal mixing) predicted based on internal wave-wave interaction theory (Hibiya et al., 2006) on the meridional overturning circulation of the Pacific Ocean. Although the assumed diapycnal diffusivity in the mixing hotspots is a little larger than the predicted value, the upwelling in the mixing hotspots is not sufficient to balance the deep-water production; out of 17 Sv of the downwelled water along the southern boundary, only 9.2 Sv is found to upwell in the mixing hotspots. The imbalance as much as 7.8 Sv is compensated by entrainment into the surface mixed layer in the vicinity of the downwelling region. As a result, the northward transport of the deep water crossing the equator is limited to 5.5 Sv, much less than estimated from previous current meter moorings and hydrographic surveys. One plausible explanation for this is that the magnitude of the meridional overturning circulation of the Pacific Ocean has been overestimated by these observations. We raise doubts about the validity of the previous ocean general circulation models where diapycnal diffusivity is assigned ad hoc to attain the current magnitude suggested from current meter moorings and hydrographic surveys.     

A global heat and freshwater forcing dataset for ocean models

A global dataset based on the ECMWF Re-Analyses (ERA) is presented that can be used as surface boundary conditions for ocean models with sea-ice components. The definition of these conditions is based on bulk formulae. To study the mean ocean circulation, a mean annual cycle on a daily basis was constructed from ERA for all relevant parameters including wind stress. Continental runoff is considered by using information about the catchment areas of the rivers and about the main drainage basins. The bulk formulae were extended by using sea ice concentration.To estimate meridional heat transports (MHT) and to avoid any drift in ocean model simulations, the heat and fresh water budgets have been closed by applying an inverse procedure to fine-tune the fluxes towards observed transports. To improve the MHTs on the Southern Hemisphere the winds and the short wave radiation at southern higher latitudes should be corrected. Furthermore, tests were performed concerning short wave radiation which was increased in the tropics and decreased in the subsidence zones.The heat and fresh water fluxes are assessed by using a scheme of Macdonald and Wunsch based on hydrographic sections. The net heat fluxes of ERA and of the forcing dataset are consistent with the heat flux divergences and convergences estimated by this scheme except for parts of the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean where none of these datasets is consistent with these estimates. In the subtropical South Indian Ocean the forcing dataset is consistent with these estimates while ERA are not. The flux components of ERA and the forcing dataset were compared to several observational datasets (SRB, SOC, HOAPS, GPCP, and CMAP). For each component, at least one of these datasets (especially HOAPS) supports the effects of the inverse procedure and the bulk formulae almost globally with some regional exceptions: short wave radiation in the tropical oceans and the subtropical North Atlantic, latent heat flux at higher latitudes, and precipitation in the northern North Atlantic.Comparisons to the NCAR/NCEP Re-Analyses (NRA) (versions 1 and 2) and the ECHAM model in place of ERA lead to similar results. In the North Atlantic the net heat fluxes of the model based datasets approach the hydrographic estimate with increasing resolution. Applied to any ocean/sea-ice model and compared to ERA, the forcing dataset would induce only a relative small net sea-surface buoyancy loss.A comparison of the forcing dataset to measurements made using one buoy deployed in the western Pacific warm pool and five buoys deployed in the subduction region of the Northeast Atlantic shows that at the site of the first buoy the net heat fluxes of the forcing dataset are in poorer agreement than those of ERA. At the sites of two subduction buoys both datasets show the same level of agreement within the error bars specified. At the sites of the three remaining subduction buoys the forcing dataset shows a marginal improvement on ERA.     

印度洋波浪诱导的水体输运效应及其对赤道SST异常的影响

波浪诱导的水体输运会对海洋产生大尺度影响。结合波浪大尺度效应的研究现状和印度洋涌浪分布的事实,利用ECMWF-CERA20的波浪、海表面温度(SST)及风场数据,采用多种统计分析方法,研究了波浪输运与赤道印度洋SST的潜在关系。结果显示:中高纬度波浪输运异常的低频信号在空间、周期上与赤道SST异常均有高度相似性;Stokes漂流纬向、经向异常呈现出南—北、东—西的振荡,其第二模态时间序列与印度洋偶极子(Indian Ocean Dipole,IOD)指数存在强相关性并在La Ni a次年的负IOD事件中达到最高:相关系数在ACC区域纬向异常超前6个月时接近0.6,中纬度区域经向异常在超前3个月时达到0.7。在La Ni a次年的负IOD中,波浪经向输运异常的相位(超前三个月)与赤道SST异常相位呈全年反相位,经向浪致输运异常造成的东—西热量输运差异对赤道SST异常分布有不可忽略的贡献。     

Wind sensitivity of the inter-ocean heat exchange

An idealised two-basin model is used to investigate the impact of the wind field on the heat exchange between the ocean basins. The scalar potential of the divergent component of the horizontal heat flux is computed, which gives a 'coarse-grained' image of the surface heat flux that captures the large-scale structure of the horizontal heat transport. Further the non-divergent component is examined, as well as the meridional heat transport and the temperature–latitude overturning stream function. A sensitivity analysis examines the heat transport response to changes in wind stress at different latitudes. The results are compared with results from an eddy-permitting global circulation model. The westerly wind stress over the Southern Ocean has two effects: a local reduction of the surface heat loss in response to the equatorward surface Ekman drift, and a global re-routing of the heat export from the Indo-Pacific. Without wind forcing, the Indo-Pacific heat export is released to the atmosphere in the Southern Ocean, and the net heat transport in the southern Atlantic is southward. With wind forcing, the Indo-Pacific export enters the Atlantic through the Aghulas and is released in the Northern Hemisphere. The easterlies enhance the poleward heat transport in both basins.     

Heat budget of the western Pacific warm pool and the contribution of eddy heat transport diagnosed from HYCOM assimilation

Using the high-resolution Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation Global 1/12° Analysis (GLBa0.08), and the Objectively Analyzed Air–Sea Fluxes and the International Satellite Climatology Cloud Project products, we investigated the seasonal and interannual evolutions of heat budget, including the pseudo-heat content change, the net air–sea heat flux and the eddy heat transport (EHT), based on the time-dependent heat budget analysis in the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP). The results show that the pseudo-heat content change has significant semi-annual variation, which peaks in April–May and September. There is strong positive feedback between EHT and the net air–sea heat flux. EHT is important in balancing the sea surface heat flux into the WPWP. The seasonal EHT variability is dominated by its meridional component. On the interannual time scale, the zonal and vertical components of EHT show comparable amplitudes with the meridional one. The observed net air–sea heat flux in the WPWP is highly correlated with EHT and the pseudo-heat content change on the interannual time scale. The net air–sea heat flux leads the pseudo-heat content change by about half a month and leads EHT by about one month. The variations of the air–sea heat flux and EHT are connected to the El Niño Southern Oscillation events: during the development of El Niño (La Niña) events, the warm pool expanded eastward (retreated westward), the net air–sea surface flux into the WPWP increased (decreased) and EHT enhanced (weakened) significantly.     

Decadal water mass variations along 20°W in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean

Water mass variations in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean along 20°W are analyzed with pentadal resolution over the past 15 years using data from four repeat occupations of a meridional hydrographic section running south from Iceland. The section was sampled in 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003. The results are interpreted in the context of changes in air–sea forcing, ocean circulation, and water properties associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO index oscillated around zero from 1984 to 1988, was strongly positive from 1989 to 1995, after which it shifted to lower positive, and occasionally negative values from 1996 to 2003. Previously published studies suggest that after the 1995–1996 shift of the NAO, the subpolar gyre largely retreated to the northwest in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, resulting in an increasingly southeastern character of local water masses with time. Water property changes extending from the SubPolar Mode Water (SPMW) just below the seasonal pycnocline through the density range shared by Mediterranean Outflow Water and SubArctic Intermediate Water (SAIW) along 20°W are consistent with changes in wind-driven ocean circulation and air–sea heat flux associated with shifts in the NAO, especially after accounting for ocean memory. After periods of lower NAO index the SPMW is warmer, saltier, and lighter. At these same times, large increases of apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and potential vorticity are found at the SPMW base, consistent with SPMW ventilation to lighter densities during lower NAO index periods. Deeper and denser in the water column, the cold, fresh, and dense SAIW signature within the permanent pycnocline that was most strongly present in 1993, near the culmination of a period of high NAO index, is much reduced in 1988 and 1998. In 2003, after a prolonged period of lower NAO index, increasing influence of warmer, saltier subtropical waters is clear within the permanent pycnocline. The deep penetration of the changes implies that they are caused primarily by circulation changes resulting from NAO-associated wind shifts, but changes in air–sea heat flux could also have played a role.     

Recent changes in the North Atlantic circulation simulated with eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving ocean models

Three eddy-permitting (1/4°) versions and one eddy-resolving (1/12°) version of the OCCAM ocean model are used to simulate the World Ocean circulation since 1985. The first eddy-permitting simulation has been used extensively in previous studies, and provides a point of reference. A second, improved, eddy-permitting simulation is forced in the same manner as the eddy-resolving simulation, with a dataset based on a blend of NCEP re-analysis and satellite data. The third eddy-permitting simulation is forced with a different dataset, based on the ERA-40 re-analysis data. Inter-comparison of these simulations in the North Atlantic clarifies the relative importance of resolution and choice of forcing dataset, for simulating the mean state and recent variability of the basin-scale circulation in that region. Differences between the first and second eddy-permitting simulations additionally reveal an erroneous influence of sea ice on surface salinity, dense water formation, and the meridional overturning circulation. Simulations are further evaluated in terms of long-term mean ocean heat transport at selected latitudes (for which hydrographic estimates are available) and sea surface temperature errors (relative to observations). By these criteria, closest agreement with observations is obtained for the eddy-resolving simulation. In this simulation, there is also a weak decadal variation in mid-latitudes, with heat transport strongest, by around 0.2 PW, in the mid-1990s. In two of the eddy-permitting simulations, by contrast, heat transport weakens through the study period, by up to 0.4 PW in mid-latitudes. The most notable changes of heat transport in all simulations are linked to a weakening of the subpolar gyre, rather than changes in the meridional overturning circulation. It is concluded that recent changes in the structure of mid-latitude heat transport in the North Atlantic are more accurately represented if eddies are explicitly resolved.     

洋际通道的体积和热输运的年平均结构及季节变化：MOM4P1积分1400年的结果

The annual mean volume and heat transport sketches through the inter-basin passages and transoceanic sections have been constructed based on 1 400-year spin up results of the MOM4p1. The spin up starts from a state of rest, driven by the monthly climatological mean force from the NOAA World Ocean Atlas(1994). The volume transport sketch reveals the northward transport throughout the Pacific and southward transport at all latitudes in the Atlantic. The annual mean strength of the Pacific-Arctic-Atlantic through flow is 0.63×106 m3/s in the Bering Strait. The majority of the northward volume transport in the southern Pacific turns into the Indonesian through flow(ITF) and joins the Indian Ocean equatorial current, which subsequently flows out southward from the Mozambique Channel, with its majority superimposed on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC). This anti-cyclonic circulation around Australia has a strength of 11×106 m3/s according to the model-produced result. The atmospheric fresh water transport, known as P-E+R(precipitation minus evaporation plus runoff), constructs a complement to the horizontal volume transport of the ocean. The annual mean heat transport sketch exhibits a northward heat transport in the Atlantic and poleward heat transport in the global ocean. The surface heat flux acts as a complement to the horizontal heat transport of the ocean. The climatological volume transports describe the most important features through the inter-basin passages and in the associated basins, including: the positive P-E+R in the Arctic substantially strengthening the East Greenland Current in summer; semiannual variability of the volume transport in the Drake Passage and the southern Atlantic-Indian Ocean passage; and annual transport variability of the ITF intensifying in the boreal summer. The climatological heat transports show heat storage in July and heat deficit in January in the Arctic; heat storage in January and heat deficit in July in the Antarctic circumpolar current regime(ACCR); and intensified heat transport of the ITF in July. The volume transport of the ITF is synchronous with the volume transport through the southern Indo-Pacific sections, but the year-long southward heat transport of the ITF is out of phase with the heat transport through the equatorial Pacific, which is northward before May and southward after May. This clarifies the majority of the ITF originating from the southern Pacific Ocean.     

西北太平洋异常变化

根据国家海洋局全部海洋站的水温和水位资料,以及“热带海洋和全球大气(TOGA)”的ADCP测流和CTD资料计算并分析了黑潮源流区输入西北太平洋的北向质量通量和西北太平洋及其邻近海域的水温、水位的异常变化,同时还应用美国宇航局Goddard地球观测系统(GEOS)/四维资料同化系统(DAS)计算并分析了西北太平洋的海面潜热通量的空间和时间变化.结果表明,北向质量通量具有明显的年际变化.这种年际变化与西北太平洋水温、水位和潜热通量的变化有着合理的因果关系.当前者减少时,后3者也明显减小.其物理解释是从热带西太平洋输入西北太平洋的海水质量和热量的减少将导致西北太平洋的减水和热量收入的减少,而热量收入的减少又将会引起水温和潜热通量的减小.     

Spatial and seasonal variability of global ocean diapycnal transport inferred from Argo profiles

The global diapycnal transport in the ocean interior is one of the significant branches to return the deep water back toward near-surface. However, the amount of the diapycnal transport and the seasonal variations are not determined yet. This paper estimates the dissipation rate and the associated diapycnal transports at 500 m, 750 m and 1 000 m depth throughout the global ocean from the wide-spread Argo profiles, using the finescale parameterizations and classic advection-diff usion balance. The net upwelling is ~5.2±0.81 Sv (Sverdrup) which is approximately one fifth in magnitude of the formation of the deep water. The Southern Ocean is the major region with the upward diapycnal transport, while the downwelling emerges mainly in the northern North Atlantic. The upwelling in the Southern Ocean accounts for over 50% of the amount of the global summation. The seasonal cycle is obvious at 500 m and vanishes with depth, indicating the energy source at surface. The enhancement of diapycnal transport occurs at 1000min the Southern Ocean, which is pertinent with the internal wave generation due to the interaction between the robust deep-reaching flows and the rough topography. Our estimates of the diapycnal transport in the ocean interior have implications for the closure of the oceanic energy budget and the understanding of global Meridional Overturning Circulation.     

南极海冰快速下降历史事件的时空特征分析

卫星记录以来,南极海冰范围发生5次快速下降事件,研究这5次事件的时空特征,对进一步认识海冰快速下降事件的物理机制具有重要意义。基于海冰范围和海冰密集度的卫星数据,从时间和空间两个维度总结5次南极海冰快速下降事件的特征,再结合大气和海洋各项环境因素的再分析数据,探讨海冰快速下降的影响因素及其驱动过程。结果显示:南极海冰快速下降的空间分布存在季节性差异, 2021年8～12月以及2016年8～12月的春季南极海冰快速下降由别林斯高晋海、威德尔海、印度洋和西太平洋区域的海冰减少所主导; 2010年12月至2011年4月以及1985年12月至1986年4月的夏季南极海冰快速下降由威德尔海、罗斯海沿岸和西太平洋区域的海冰减少所主导;2008年4～8月的冬季南极海冰快速下降则由别林斯高晋海和西太平洋的部分区域的海冰减少所主导。探究影响海冰的环境因素发现,海表面温度和海表面净热通量对海冰减少的热力效应影响具有区域性差异。此外,南极海冰快速下降受阿蒙森低压的影响,相应的海表面风异常既通过经向热输运的热力效应导致海冰减少,也通过风的动力效应驱动海冰漂移使得海冰密集度降低。     

Natural air–sea flux of CO2 in simulations of the NASA-GISS climate model: Sensitivity to the physical ocean model formulation

Results from twin control simulations of the preindustrial CO₂ gas exchange (natural flux of CO₂) between the ocean and the atmosphere are presented here using the NASA-GISS climate model, in which the same atmospheric component (modelE2) is coupled to two different ocean models, the Russell ocean model and HYCOM. Both incarnations of the GISS climate model are also coupled to the same ocean biogeochemistry module (NOBM) which estimates prognostic distributions for biotic and abiotic fields that influence the air–sea flux of CO₂. Model intercomparison is carried out at equilibrium conditions and model differences are contrasted with biases from present day climatologies. Although the models agree on the spatial patterns of the air–sea flux of CO₂, they disagree on the strength of the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean sinks mainly because of kinematic (winds) and chemistry (pCO₂) differences rather than thermodynamic (SST) ones. Biology/chemistry dissimilarities in the models stem from the different parameterizations of advective and diffusive processes, such as overturning, mixing and horizontal tracer advection and to a lesser degree from parameterizations of biogeochemical processes such as gravitational settling and sinking. The global meridional overturning circulation illustrates much of the different behavior of the biological pump in the two models, together with differences in mixed layer depth which are responsible for different SST, DIC and nutrient distributions in the two models and consequently different atmospheric feedbacks (in the wind, net heat and freshwater fluxes into the ocean).     

The effects on water mass formation of surface mixed layer timedependence and entrainment fluxes

An air-sea buoyancy flux out of the ocean between the surface outcroppings of different isopycnals must be balanced by a convergence of advective and diffusive fluxes of buoyancy across those isopycnals (Walin, 1982; Tziperman, 1986; Garrett et al., 1995). For steady conditions, the diapycnal diffusive flux due to vertical mixing in the surface mixed layer is very small, so that the advective buoyancy flux dominates (Speer, 1993; Garrett et al., 1995). The associated advective buoyancy flux can then be used to estimate the volume flux of water out of the base of the surface mixed layer. The resulting thermodynamic algorithm provides a valuable estimate of water mass formation in the ocean.In contrast, for the time-dependent real ocean with horizontal and vertical gradients of the horizontal buoyancy gradient, diurnal and seasonal mixed layer deepening and entrainment in the presence of a buoyancy jump at the base of the mixed layer contributes to the annual volume flux out of the base of the deepest (wintertime) mixed layer. The mismatch between the predictions of the ideal algorithm and measured rates of water mass formation (Speer, 1997) may thus be partly due to mixed layer processes rather than diapycnal mixing in the thermocline.     

Tidal Mixing in the Kuril Straits and Its Impact on Ventilation in the North Pacific Ocean

A numerical study using a 3-D nonhydrostatic model has been applied to baroclinic processes generated by the K ₁ tidal flow in and around the Kuril Straits. The result shows that large-amplitude unsteady lee waves are generated and cause intense diapycnal mixing all along the Kuril Island Chain to levels of a maximum diapycnal diffusivity exceeding 10³ cm²s⁻¹. Significant water transformation by the vigorous mixing in shallow regions produces the distinct density and potential vorticity (PV) fronts along the Island Chain. The pinched-off eddies that arise and move away from the fronts have the ability to transport a large amount of mixed water (∼14 Sv) to the offshore regions, roughly half being directed to the North Pacific. These features are consistent with recent satellite imagery and in-situ observations, suggesting that diapycnal mixing within the vicinity of the Kuril Islands has a greater impact than was previously supposed on the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific. To examine this influence of tidal processes at the Kurils on circulations in the neighboring two basins, another numerical experiment was conducted using an ocean general circulation model with inclusion of tidal mixing along the islands, which gives a better representation of the Okhotsk Sea Mode Water than in the case without the tidal mixing. This is mainly attributed to the added effect of a significant upward salt flux into the surface layer due to tidal mixing in the Kuril Straits, which is subsequently transported to the interior region of the Okhotsk Sea. With a saline flux into the surface layer, cooling in winter in the northern part of the Okhotsk Sea can produce heavier water and thus enhance subduction, which is capable of reproducing a realistic Okhotsk Sea Mode Water. The associated low PV flux from the Kuril Straits to the open North Pacific excites the 2nd baroclinic-mode Kelvin and Rossby waves in addition to the 1st mode. Interestingly, the meridional overturning in the North Pacific is strengthened as a result of the dynamical adjustment caused by these waves, leading to a more realistic reproduction of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) than in the case without tidal mixing. Accordingly, the joint effect of tidally-induced transport and transformation dominating in the Kuril Straits and subsequent eddy-transport is considered to play an important role in the ventilation of both the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The hydrography of the mid-latitude Northeast Atlantic Ocean — Part III: the subducted thermocline water mass

The ventilation of the permanent thermocline in the ocean margin of the mid-latitude eastern North Atlantic Ocean was studied by analysis of a historic data set of over 2200 hydrographic stations. This data set contains physical (pressure, temperature, salinity) and bio-geochemical (dissolved oxygen, silica, nitrate and phosphate) parameters. The large-scale structure of the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water in the permanent thermocline is presented. Conservative tracer distributions are described as are those of the non-conservative tracers like apparent oxygen utilization and dissolved nutrients. The hydrographic structure agrees with ventilation of the thermocline by southward subducted Mode Water from the eastern North Atlantic. Estimates of the oxygen diapycnal diffusion term and the distribution of pre-formed nutrients indicate that diapycnal mixing is not important for the large-scale distribution of bio-geochemical tracers in the thermocline. Only along the west Iberian continental slope may enhanced boundary mixing have some local influence on these tracer distributions. From the observed meridional ageing trend a characteristic southward velocity of −1 cm/s and a total subduction of 4.5 Sv between 32 and 52°N east of 20°W are estimated.     

Hydrographic Features off the Southeast Coast of Kyushu during the Kuroshio Small Meanders: A Case Study for Small Meanders that Occurred in 1994 and 1995 Spring

Three Kuroshio small meanders off the southeast coast of Kyushu that occurred during 1994 to 1995 were investigated by using satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) maps, World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Hydrographic Program (WHP) repeat section and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) hydrographic observations. Based on the satellite data, we observed that the three small meanders are formed by different processes: the triggering and growth of these meanders are caused by a cyclonic eddy propagating from the Kuroshio recirculation region or Kuroshio front meanders traveling from the East China Sea. Investigation of the two small meanders in 1994 and 1995 spring that are captured by the WHP observation showed quite consistent hydrographic features. On the nearshore side of the meandering Kuroshio, a countercurrent appears, associated with vertically uniform upward lifts of the isopycnals from sea surface to bottom at the boundary between the countercurrent and the Kuroshio. In the countercurrent region, the waters in the density ranges of the North Pacific subtropical mode water (NPSTMW) and the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) are more saline and less saline than typical waters that the Kuroshio carries in a non-small meander state, respectively. There are indications that high-salinity NPSTMW and low-salinity NPIW distributed off the Kuroshio was supplied to the countercurrent region. In the meandering Kuroshio flow, while there is no notable change in properties around the NPSTMW density range, salinity of the NPIW is significantly higher than that carried by the Kuroshio in a non-small meander state, but not higher than that in the Kuroshio at the Tokara Strait, which suggests that saline NPIW from the Tokara Strait, less mixed with low-salinity NPIW off the Kuroshio, may be carried by the meandering Kuroshio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Meridional heat transport determined with expendable bathythermographs—Part I: Error estimates from model and hydrographic data

Heat transports estimated CTD data collected during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) along the January 1993 30°S hydrographic transect (A10) and the output from a numerical model show a mean heat transport of 0.40 and 0.55±0.24 PW (standard deviation), respectively. The model shows a large annual cycle in heat transport (more than 30% of the variance) with a maximum (minimum) heat transport in July (February) of 0.68 (0.41) PW. Using these data, a method is proposed and evaluated to calculate the heat transport from temperature data obtained from a trans-basin section of expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) profiles. In this method, salinity is estimated from Argo profiles and CTD casts for each XBT temperature observation using statistical relationships between temperature, latitude, longitude and salinity computed along constant-depth surfaces. Full-depth temperature/salinity profiles are obtained by extending the profiles to the bottom of the ocean using deep climatological data. The meridional transport is then determined by using the standard geostrophic method, applying NCEP-derived Ekman transports, and requiring that the salt flux through the Bering Straits be conserved. The results indicate that the methods described here can provide heat transport estimates with a maximum uncertainty of ±0.18 PW (1 PW=10¹⁵ W). Most of this uncertainty is due to the climatology used to estimate the deep structure and issues related to not knowing the absolute velocity field and most especially characterizing barotropic motions. Nevertheless, when the methodology is applied to temperatures collected along 30°S (A10) and direct model integrations, the results are very promising. Results from the numerical model suggest that ageostrophic non-Ekman motions can contribute less than 0.05 PW to heat transport estimates in the South Atlantic.     

白令海峡夏季流量的年际变化及其成因

白令海峡是连接太平洋和北冰洋的唯一通道,穿过海峡的海水体积通量在年际尺度上的变化主要取决于海峡南北两侧的海面高度差,白令海峡的入流对北冰洋海洋过程有重要的意义。利用SODA资料计算夏季白令海峡海水体积通量,对其年际变化及成因进行分析。结果表明夏季白令海峡的体积通量主要是正压地转的;当体积通量为正距平时,楚科奇海、东西伯利亚海、拉普捷夫海以及波弗特海南部海面高度为负距平,同时,白令海陆架海面高度为正距平;对这些海域的Ekman运动、上层海洋温度、盐度和垂直流速进行分析,发现海面高度异常与海峡体积通量的这种关系主要是与海面气压异常分布所产生的Ekman运动有关。当白令海峡的体积通量为正距平时,北冰洋中央海面气压为正距平,白令海海盆海面气压为负距平。这种气压的异常分布在一定程度上解释了上层海洋运动、海水温盐结构与白令海峡入流的关系,从而把夏季大尺度大气环流和白令海峡体积通量的年际变化联系了起来。     

Influence of ridges on hydrographic parameters in the Southwest Indian Ocean

The objective of the paper is to use the data collected along two meridional sections (45° E and 57°30′ E) during the austral summer (January–March) 2004 to understand the influence of seabed topography across the Madagascar and Southwest Indian Ridges on hydrographic parameters. The study was supplemented by World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data collected during February–March 1996 along 30° E, as well as Levitus climatology. A southward shift of 2° latitude (between 45° E and 57°30′ E) was recorded for the two predominant frontal structures, i.e., the Agulhas Return Front and Southern Subtropical Front, which is attributed to the influence of seabed topography on hydrographic parameters. No significant spatial variation of these fronts was noted between the 30° E and 45° E meridional sections. Between latitudes 31° S and 42° S, the temperature and salinity structures show deepening over the ridges. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current core was detected between 40°15′ S and 43° S.     

Estimates of non-tidal exchange transport between the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific

The outflow from the Sea of Okhotsk to the North Pacific is important in characterising the surface-to-intermediate-depth water masses in the Pacific Ocean. The two basins are separated by the Kuril Islands with numerous straits, among which the Bussol and the Kruzenshterna Straits are deeper than 1000 m. The physics governing the transport between the two basins is complicated, but when the semidiurnal and diurnal tides are subtracted, the observed density and velocity structures across the Bussol Strait suggest a significant contribution from geostrophic balance. Using a two-layer model with the interface at 27.5σ _θ , part of the upper layer transport that is not driven by tides is estimated using two previously unexplored data sets: outputs from the Ocean General Circulation Model for Earth Simulator (OFES), and historical hydrographic data. The Pacific water flows into the Sea of Okhotsk through the northeastern straits. The greatest inflow is through the Kruzenshtern Strait, but the OFES results show that the contributions from other shallower straits are almost half of the Kruzenshtern inflow. Similarly, the outflow from the Sea of Okhotsk is through the southwestern straits of the Kuril Islands with the largest Bussol Strait contributing 60% of the total outflow. The OFES and hydrographic estimates agree that the exchange is strongest in February to March, with an inflow of about −6 to −12 Sv (negative indicates the flow from the North Pacific, 1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹), and an outflow from the Sea of Okhotsk of about +8 to +9 Sv (positive indicates the flow from the Sea of Okhotsk), which is weakest in summer (−3 to +1 Sv through the northeastern straits and +0 to +3 Sv through the southwestern straits). The estimated seasonal variation is consistent with a simple analytic model driven by the difference in sea surface height between the two basins.