Large-Scale Circulation with Locally Enhanced Vertical Mixing*

On the Ocean’s Large-Scale Circulation near the Limit of No Vertical Mixing

By convention, the ocean’s large-scale circulation is assumed to be a thermohaline overturning driven by the addition and extraction of buoyancy at the surface and vertical mixing in the interior. Previous work suggests that the overturning should die out as vertical mixing rates are reduced to zero. In this paper, a formal energy analysis is applied to a series of ocean general circulation mod...

Comments on Eddies, Mixing and the Large-Scale Ocean Circulation

Some recent laboratory and numerical studies of idealized ocean gyres and circumpolar currents are reviewed in the context of what they might tell us about the relative role of eddy transfer and mixing in setting the structure of the large-scale ocean circulation.

Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns associated with the occurrence of severe storms Zab basin

Large-Scale Ocean Circulation

The past 30 years have witnessed a rapid evolution of circulation theory. Much of the progress can be attributed to the intuition and physical balance that have emerged from the use of simple models that isolate important processes. Major contributions along these lines were made by Stommel, Welander, and others. An excellent presentation of the ideas together with a number of significant advan...

Sensitivity of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation and its stability to basin-scale variations in vertical mixing

We show that a reduction in vertical mixing applied inside the Atlantic basin can drastically increase North Antlantic Deep Water (NADW) stability with respect to fresh water perturbations applied to the North Atlantic. This is contrary to the notion that the stability of the ocean’s thermohaline circulation simply scales with vertical mixing rates. An Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) revers...