Southern Ocean overturning across streamlines in an eddying simulation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Ocean Science Discussions Année : 2007

Southern Ocean overturning across streamlines in an eddying simulation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Résumé

An eddying global model is used to study the characteristics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) in a streamline-following framework. In the upper layers, the meridional circulation across streamlines agrees with the theoretical view: an equatorward mean flow partially cancelled by a poleward eddy mass flux. The same calculation in a zonal average gives a completely different view and underestimates the eddy effects. Two model simulations, in which the buoyancy forcing above the ACC changes from positive to negative, suggest that the relationship between the residual meridional circulation and the surface buoyancy flux is not as straightforward as assumed by some recent theoretical studies: even the sign of the residual circulation cannot be inferred from the buoyancy forcing. Heat and salt transports by the time-mean flow are important even in the streamline framework. Streamline-averaged, two-dimensional models cannot account quantitatively for the complex three-dimensional structure of the ACC. Heat and salt are balanced in the ACC, the model drift being small, but the nonlinearity of the equation of state cannot be ignored in the density balance.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
osd-4-653-2007.pdf (715.36 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Accord explicite pour ce dépôt
Loading...

Dates et versions

hal-00331133 , version 1 (18-06-2008)

Identifiants

Citer

Anne-Marie Tréguier, Matthew H. England, Stephen R. Rintoul, Gurvan Madec, Julien Le Sommer, et al.. Southern Ocean overturning across streamlines in an eddying simulation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Ocean Science Discussions, 2007, 4 (4), pp.653-698. ⟨10.5194/osd-4-653-2007⟩. ⟨hal-00331133⟩
517 Consultations
133 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More