The importance of planetary rotation period for ocean heat transport

Cullum, Jodie, Stevens, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7283-4405 and Joshi, Manoj ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2948-2811 (2014) The importance of planetary rotation period for ocean heat transport. Astrobiology, 14 (8). pp. 645-650. ISSN 1531-1074

Preview

PDF (CSJ14) - Published Version Download (205kB) | Preview

Abstract

The climate, and hence potential habitability, of a planet crucially depends on how its atmospheric and oceanic circulation transports heat from warmer to cooler regions. However, previous studies of planetary climate have concentrated on modelling the dynamics of their atmospheres whilst dramatically simplifying the treatment of the oceans, which neglects or misrepresents the effect of the ocean in the total heat transport. Even the majority of studies with a dynamic ocean have used a simple so-called aquaplanet having no continental barriers, which is a configuration which dramatically changes the oceanic dynamics. Here the significance of the response of poleward ocean heat transport to planetary rotation period is shown with a simple meridional barrier – the simplest representation of any continental configuration. The poleward ocean heat transport increases significantly as the planetary rotation period is increased. The peak heat transport more than doubles when the rotation period is increased by a factor of ten. There are also significant changes to ocean temperature at depth, with implications for the carbon cycle. There is strong agreement between the model results and a scale analysis of the governing equations. This result highlights the importance of both planetary rotation period and the ocean circulation when considering planetary habitability.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Mathematics Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Fluid and Solid Mechanics
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2014 13:36
Last Modified:	13 Jun 2023 08:17
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/48531
DOI:	10.1089/ast.2014.1171

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item