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contributor authorHallberg, Robert
contributor authorGnanadesikan, Anand
date accessioned2017-06-09T14:54:57Z
date available2017-06-09T14:54:57Z
date copyright2001/11/01
date issued2001
identifier issn0022-3670
identifier otherams-29581.pdf
identifier urihttp://onlinelibrary.yabesh.ir/handle/yetl/4166824
description abstractThe meridional Ekman transport in a zonally reentrant channel may be balanced by diabatic circulations, standing eddies associated with topography, or by Lagrangian mean eddy mass fluxes. A simple model is used to explore the interaction between these mechanisms. A key assumption of this study is that diabatic forcing in the poleward edge of the channel acts to create lighter fluid, as is the case with net freshwater fluxes into the Southern Ocean. For weak wind forcing or strong diabatic constraint, a simple scaling argument accurately predicts the level of baroclinic shear. However, given our understanding of the relative magnitudes of Ekman flux and deep upwelling, this is not the appropriate parameter range for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. With stronger wind stresses, eddies are prominent, with baroclinic instability initially developing in the vicinity of large topography. Arguments have been advanced by a number of authors that baroclinic instability should limit the velocity shear, leading to a stiff upper limit on the transport of the current. However, in the simulations presented here baroclinic instability is largely confined to the region of topographic highs, and the approach to a current that is independent of the wind stress occurs gradually. Several recent parameterizations of transient eddy fluxes do not reproduce key features of the observed behavior.
publisherAmerican Meteorological Society
titleAn Exploration of the Role of Transient Eddies in Determining the Transport of a Zonally Reentrant Current
typeJournal Paper
journal volume31
journal issue11
journal titleJournal of Physical Oceanography
identifier doi10.1175/1520-0485(2001)031<3312:AEOTRO>2.0.CO;2
journal fristpage3312
journal lastpage3330
treeJournal of Physical Oceanography:;2001:;Volume( 031 ):;issue: 011
contenttypeFulltext


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