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A Region of Enhanced Northward Antarctic Intermediate Water Transport in a Coupled Climate Model

A Region of Enhanced Northward Antarctic Intermediate Water Transport in a Coupled Climate Model A global coupled model is used to examine pathways of freshwater transport in the Southern Ocean. On the background of a strong zonal freshwater transport along the pathway of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), there are meridional freshwater flows distributed nonuniformly around the globe, including in the upper ocean. The analysis does not support a simple two-dimensional scheme of Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) formation, according to which the fresh AAIW forms uniformly around the circumpolar ocean. Rather, a more complex three-dimensional picture of the freshwater transport in the Southern Ocean is revealed, with enhanced AAIW formation in the southeast Pacific Ocean both north and south of the Drake Passage latitudes. Freshened by intense precipitation and surface waters from around Antarctica, the ACC transports freshwater from the northwest to the southeast toward Drake Passage. There, a fraction of this freshwater is transported southward across 60°°S with the subsurface ACC and the eddy-induced flow. West of the Antarctic Peninsula, the freshwater subducts to intermediate depths and turns northward, following the ACC and contributing to the formation of AAIW. This analysis supports previous results of enhanced subduction localized to the southern tip of South America. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Physical Oceanography American Meteorological Society

A Region of Enhanced Northward Antarctic Intermediate Water Transport in a Coupled Climate Model

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References (14)

Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Meteorological Society
ISSN
1520-0485
DOI
10.1175/1520-0485(2003)033<1528:AROENA>2.0.CO;2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A global coupled model is used to examine pathways of freshwater transport in the Southern Ocean. On the background of a strong zonal freshwater transport along the pathway of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), there are meridional freshwater flows distributed nonuniformly around the globe, including in the upper ocean. The analysis does not support a simple two-dimensional scheme of Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) formation, according to which the fresh AAIW forms uniformly around the circumpolar ocean. Rather, a more complex three-dimensional picture of the freshwater transport in the Southern Ocean is revealed, with enhanced AAIW formation in the southeast Pacific Ocean both north and south of the Drake Passage latitudes. Freshened by intense precipitation and surface waters from around Antarctica, the ACC transports freshwater from the northwest to the southeast toward Drake Passage. There, a fraction of this freshwater is transported southward across 60°°S with the subsurface ACC and the eddy-induced flow. West of the Antarctic Peninsula, the freshwater subducts to intermediate depths and turns northward, following the ACC and contributing to the formation of AAIW. This analysis supports previous results of enhanced subduction localized to the southern tip of South America.

Journal

Journal of Physical OceanographyAmerican Meteorological Society

Published: May 15, 2002

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