The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation (eBook)

An Introduction

Hendrik M. van Aken (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2007 | 2007
XVIII, 326 Seiten
Springer New York (Verlag)
978-0-387-48039-8 (ISBN)

Infos

This book presents a global hydrographic description of the thermohaline circulation, an introduction to the theoretical aspects of this phenomenon, and observational evidence for the theory. The hydrographic description and the observational evidence are based on data sources available via internet, mainly from the World Oceanographic Experiment (WOCE). The book also offers an introduction to hydrographic analysis and interpretation.

 Dr. Hendrik van Aken has been an observational oceanographer for over 25 years. He mainly deals with regional oceanography. He headed the Dutch contribution ot the WOCE Hydrographic Program (WHP), and is presently active in CLIVAR projects. Dr. Van Aken has done extensive research in the fields of climate hydrographic variability and aspects of the global thermohaline  circulation.

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This book presents a global hydrographic description of the thermohaline circulation, an introduction to the theoretical aspects of this phenomenon, and observational evidence for the theory. The hydrographic description and the observational evidence are based on data sources, available via internet, mainly from the World Oceanographic Experiment (WOCE). With the hydrographic description and observational evidence also comes an introduction to hydrographic analysis and interpretation.

Inhalt

Preface 7
Contents 10
List of Abbreviations 13
1. Introduction 16
1.1. Climate and climate variations 16
1.2. The ocean and climate 18
1.3. What is the THC? 21
1.4. Some historical notes 24
1.5. The following chapters 28
2. The ocean basins 30
2.1. The bottom topography of the oceans 30
2.2. Basins and ridges 31
3. Pressure, temperature, salinity, and some thermohaline dynamics 35
3.1. Pressure 35
3.2. Temperature 37
3.3. Salinity 38
3.4. Density 40
3.5. Adiabatic compression, potential temperature, and potential density 43
3.6. Freezing point and specific heat 45
3.7. Pressure gradient forces 47
3.8. Geostrophic and near-geostrophic flow 49
3.9. Friction and transport 52
3.10. Vertical motion and mass conservation 54
4. Water mass and tracer analysis of the deep flow in the Atlantic Ocean 59
4.1. Meridional sections of temperature, salinity and density 59
4.2. Deriving the deep circulation from tracer distributions 63
4.3. Wüst's core method 65
4.4. Water mass, water type, and the temperature 68
4.5. Quantitative water mass analysis 72
4.6. The use of biogeochemical tracers 75
4.7. Biogeochemical tracers in the Atlantic Ocean 80
4.8. A natural radioactive tracer: radiocarbon 83
4.9. Halocarbons as tracers 86
4.10. Zonal hydrographic sections in the Atlantic Ocean 89
5. The deep flow in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific oceans 93
5.1. Hydrography of the Southern Ocean 93
5.2. The deep Indian Ocean 101
5.3. The hydrography of the deep Pacific Ocean 107
5.4. Deep upwelling 115
6. The upper branch of the THC 117
6.1. Interocean exchange 117
6.2. The Bering Strait through-flow 118
6.3. The Indonesian through-flow 120
6.4. The cold water route 126
6.5. Return flow into the Arctic seas 132
7. Formation and descent of water masses 135
7.1. Water mass formation 135
7.2. The Barents Sea 136
7.3. A scheme for deep convection 139
7.4. Deep convection in the Greenland Sea 141
7.5. Norwegian Sea Deep Water 145
7.6. Exchange between the Nordic seas and the North Atlantic Ocean 146
7.7. Convection in the Labrador Sea 152
7.8. Bottom water formation in the Southern Ocean 156
8. Dynamics of the THC 166
8.1. Meridional overturning circulation 166
8.2. Upwelling and divergence of the abyssal circulation 174
8.3. Geostrophic flow in the abyssal ocean 176
8.4. Deep boundary currents 179
8.5. Topographic influence on the abyssal circulation 183
8.6. Observational evidence for the abyssal circulation scheme 185
8.7. Wind-driven deep upwelling in the Southern Ocean 196
9. Deep upwelling and mixing 199
9.1. Profiles of conservative tracers 199
9.2. Profiles of a tracer with first-order decay: radiocarbon 203
9.3. Tracers with zeroth order sources and sinks: oxygen, and nutrients 208
9.4. Energy requirements for turbulent mixing 210
10. Energetics of the THC 216
10.1. Some thermodynamics 216
10.2. Heat exchange with the atmosphere and heat fluxes 219
10.3. The influence of the hydrological cycle 225
10.4. The density boundary conditions 230
10.5. The THC engine and Sandström's theorem 232
11. Simple models, boundary conditions, and feedbacks 239
11.1. Models and boundary conditions 239
11.2. Random boundary conditions 241
11.3. Boundary conditions for temperature and salinity with feedback 243
11.4. A consequence of SST-dependent evaporation 247
11.5. Consequences of restoring boundary conditions 248
11.6. The single-hemispheric Stommel box model 252
11.7. The interhemispheric Rooth box model 258
11.8. The stability of Rooth's model 265
11.9. Two-dimensional meridional models of the THC 270
11.10. Three-dimensional ocean general circulation models 275
12. The THC and different climates 279
12.1. Climate variability in numerical simulations 279
12.2. Paleoclimate changes 285
12.3. The past THC from oxygen isotopes in marine sediments 289
12.4. Stable carbon isotopes and the Atlantic paleo-THC 294
12.5. Cadmium and barium as paleoceanographic tracers of the THC 301
12.6. Stable carbon isotopes in the Southern Ocean 304
12.7. Global water mass changes in the deep ocean 306
12.8. Ocean ventilation age from radiocarbon in sediment cores 307
12.9. A model interpretation of proxy data 311
References 315
Index 330

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.3.2007
• Reihe/Serie: Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library
• Reihe/Serie: Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library
• Zusatzinfo: XVIII, 326 p. 153 illus.
• Verlagsort: New York
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geografie / Kartografie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Hydrologie / Ozeanografie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: Atlantic Ocean • climate change • ocean • Oceans • Pacific Ocean • Temperature
• ISBN-10: 0-387-48039-0 / 0387480390
• ISBN-13: 978-0-387-48039-8 / 9780387480398