The importance of interocean exchange south of Africa in a numerical model

Thompson, Simon R., Stevens, David P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7283-4405 and Döös, Kristofer (1997) The importance of interocean exchange south of Africa in a numerical model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102 (C2). pp. 3303-3315. ISSN 0148-0227

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Abstract

A fine resolution numerical model of the Southern Ocean (the Fine Resolution Antarctic Model (FRAM)) has been used to investigate the way in which heat is supplied to the South Atlantic. The heat budget in the model is compared with other estimates and is found to be broadly realistic. The temperature structure in the Atlantic, and therefore the meridional heat transport, depend heavily on the input of heat from the Indian Ocean via the Agulhas Retroflection region. FRAM is compared with three models which do not exhibit a significant input of heat from the Indian Ocean. These models also have a lower equatorward heat transport in the South Atlantic. Horizontal resolution affects the amount of Agulhas transfer with coarser resolution leading to lower heat transport in the Atlantic, a result which has implications for ocean models used in climate simulations.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Mathematics
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Meteorology, Oceanography and Climate Dynamics (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Fluid and Solid Mechanics
Depositing User: David Stevens
Date Deposited: 01 Dec 2010 14:12
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 12:32
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/15934
DOI: 10.1029/96JC03207

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