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Simple Mechanistic Models of Middepth Meridional Overturning

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  • Two idealized, three-dimensional, analytical models of middepth meridional overturning in a basin with a Southern Hemisphere circumpolar connection are described. In the first, the overturning circulation can be understood as a “pump and valve” system, in which the wind forcing at the latitudes of the circumpolar connection is the pump and surface thermodynamic exchange at high northern latitudes is the valve. When the valve is on, the overturning circulation extends to the extreme northern latitudes of the basin, and the middepth thermocline is cold. When the valve is off, the overturning circulation is short-circuited and confined near the circumpolar connection, and the middepth thermocline is warm. The meridional overturning cell in this first model is not driven by turbulent mixing, and the subsurface circulation is adiabatic. In contrast, the pump that primarily drives the overturning cell in the second model is turbulent mixing, at low and midlatitudes, in the ocean interior. In both models, however, the depth of the midlatitude deep layer is controlled by the sill depth of the circumpolar gap. The thermocline structures in these two models are nearly indistinguishable. These models suggest that Northern Hemisphere wind and surface buoyancy forcing may influence the strength and structure of the circumpolar current in the Southern Hemisphere.
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  • Samelson, R. M., 2004: Simple Mechanistic Models of Middepth Meridional Overturning. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 34, 2096–2103.
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  • 34
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  • 9
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  • This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant OCE-9907854, and the Office of Naval Research, Grant N00014-98-1-0813.
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