Influence of the Meridional Overturning Circulation on Tropical–Subtropical Pathways

Abstract

An ocean GCM is used for idealized studies of the Atlantic circulation in a square basin. The subtropical, the tropical, and the equatorial gyres are produced by forcing the model with a wind stress profile having only latitudinal dependence. The goal is to understand the effect of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) on the Atlantic intergyre exchanges. The MOC is imposed by prescribing an inflow all along the southern boundary and an outflow at the northern boundary. The results indicate that the northward flow of the MOC has a crucial effect on the subtropical?tropical pathways. In this idealized configuration the North Atlantic wind field creates a basinwide potential vorticity barrier. Therefore, the water subducted in the North Atlantic has to flow to the western boundary before turning equatorward. This is shown by the trajectories of floats injected in a band of northern latitudes. The warm water return flow of the MOC inhibits this pathway and reduces the inflow of North Atlantic waters into the equator from 10 Sv in the purely wind-driven case to 2 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s?1). Thus, the equatorial thermocline consists mainly of water from the South Atlantic. The analysis of synthetic float trajectories reveals two distinct routes for the return flow of the MOC, the first one occurring in the intermediate layers along the western boundary and the second all across the basin in the surface layer. The surface path starts with water subducting in the South Atlantic subtropical gyre, flowing within the North Brazil Current to the equator, entering the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC), becoming entrained into the tropical mixed layer, and finally flowing northward in the Ekman layer. The contribution of thermocline water to the MOC return flow is negligible.