Present ocean circulation
45
the meridional heat transport caused by changes in the global ocean circulation.
The thermohaline circulation is indeed sensitive to perturbations, in particular to
those in the surface freshwater flux, because the atmosphere reacts differently to
salt perturbations than to heat perturbations. This leads to the following questions:
Why is there a thermocline and what processes control its shape?
What controls the volume transport of the ACC near Drake Passage?
Why are the surface currents in the Arctic Ocean closely following topographic
features?
Is the global ocean circulation sensitive to perturbations and if yes, what are
the physical processes responsible?
All these questions can only be partially answered by current theory on the
planetary circulation. The basis for the theory is presented in chapter 13 where
two theories for the existence of the thermocline are studied. In both theories, the
different effect that temperature and salt on the flow can be neglected and only the
density field is important. The theory is used in chapter 14 to study the effect of
bottom topography on the ACC and slightly extended in chapter 15 to address the
dynamical processes controlling the Arctic Ocean circulation. The stability of the
large-scale circulation is subject of chapter 16 and theory on the stability of the
thermohaline circulation is presented with the help of conceptual models.
45
the meridional heat transport caused by changes in the global ocean circulation.
The thermohaline circulation is indeed sensitive to perturbations, in particular to
those in the surface freshwater flux, because the atmosphere reacts differently to
salt perturbations than to heat perturbations. This leads to the following questions:
Why is there a thermocline and what processes control its shape?
What controls the volume transport of the ACC near Drake Passage?
Why are the surface currents in the Arctic Ocean closely following topographic
features?
Is the global ocean circulation sensitive to perturbations and if yes, what are
the physical processes responsible?
All these questions can only be partially answered by current theory on the
planetary circulation. The basis for the theory is presented in chapter 13 where
two theories for the existence of the thermocline are studied. In both theories, the
different effect that temperature and salt on the flow can be neglected and only the
density field is important. The theory is used in chapter 14 to study the effect of
bottom topography on the ACC and slightly extended in chapter 15 to address the
dynamical processes controlling the Arctic Ocean circulation. The stability of the
large-scale circulation is subject of chapter 16 and theory on the stability of the
thermohaline circulation is presented with the help of conceptual models.