Measurements of ocean bottom pressure (OBP) anomalies from the satellitemissionGravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), complemented by information from two ocean models, are used to investigate the variations and distribution of the Arctic Ocean mass from 2002 through 2011. The forcing and dynamics associated with the observed OBP changes are explored. Major findings are the identifica...

[1] A dynamical mechanism is described that modulates the tilt of the sea-surface height and pycnocline depth between the central Arctic and the continental shelves. A simple analytical model is presented, forced with idealized zonal winds over an idealized, 2-layer, cylinder representing the Arctic Ocean. Ekman transports are linked to sea-surface and pycnocline tilt anomalies and basin-scale ...

Neutral and stably-stratified Ekman boundary layers (EBLs) are numerically investigated with a stochastic one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. EBLs achieve the bulk-surface coupling in Earth's atmosphere. They challenging due to transient non-universal properties even at small scales. ODT addresses this problem by distinguishing turbulent-advective from molecular-diffusive transport processe...

A primitive equation model [Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory’s (GFDL’s) MOM 2] with one degree horizontal resolution is used to simulate the seasonal cycle of frontogenesis in the subarctic frontal zone (SAFZ) and the subtropical frontal zone (STFZ) of the North Pacific Ocean. The SAFZ in the model contains deep (greater than 500 m in some places) regions with seasonally varying high gradi...

This study presents a comparison of forcings between density gradient and tides in idealized funnel-shaped salt-plug estuaries. Three-dimensional numerical model results also examine longitudinal lateral circulations. In estuaries, positive estuarine circulation is observed landward salinity maximum zone or salt plug. Seaward the plug, estuary shows an inverse cell. The flows show fortnightly v...

The transport mechanisms of substances in natural water bodies are considered. Dissolved substances can be regarded as passive in that they do not affect the velocity field of the water bodies. The particles of substances can be regarded as either passive or active. Transport of substances is caused by convection, and/or molecular and turbulent diffusion. The buoyancy forces thus have some infl...