Relationship between air-sea density flux and isopycnal meridional overturning circulation in a warming climate
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Author
Han, MyeongHee
Kamenkovich, Igor
Radko, Timour
Johns, William E.
Date
2013-04-15Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study aims to explore the relationship between air–sea density flux and isopycnal meridional overturning
circulation (MOC), using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment
Report (AR4) model projections of the twenty-first-century climate. The focus is on the semiadiabatic
component of MOC beneath the mixed layer; this component is described using the concept of the push–pull
mode, which represents the combined effects of the adiabatic push into the deep ocean in the Northern
Hemisphere and the pull out of the deep ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. The analysis based on the GFDL
Climate Model version 2.1 (CM2.1) simulation demonstrates that the push–pull mode and the actual isopycnal
MOC at the equator evolve similarly in the deep layers, with their maximum transports decreasing by
4–5 Sv (1 Sv [ 106 m3 s21) during years 2001–2100. In particular, the push–pull mode and actual isopycnal
MOC are within approximately 10% of each other at the density layers heavier than 27.55 kg m23, where the
reduction in the MOC strength is the strongest. The decrease in the push–pull mode is caused by the direct
contribution of the anomalous heat, rather than freshwater, surface fluxes. The agreement between the deep
push–pull mode and MOC in the values of linear trend and variability on time scales longer than a decade
suggests a largely adiabatic pole-to-pole mechanism for these changes. The robustness of the main conclusions
is further explored in additional model simulations.
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00682.1
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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