Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model
Abstract
Open-ocean polynyas (OOPs) in the Southern Ocean are ice-free areas within the winter ice pack that are associated with deep convection, potentially contributing to the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water. To enhance the credibility of Earth system models (ESMs), their ability to simulate OOPs realistically is thus crucial. Here we investigate OOPs that emerge intermittently in a high-resolution (HR) preindustrial simulation with the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, version 0.1 (E3SMv0), an offspring of the Community Earth System Model (CESM). While low-resolution (LR) simulations with E3SMv0 show no signs of OOP formation, the preindustrial E3SMv0-HR simulation produces both large Weddell Sea polynyas (WSPs) as well as small Maud Rise polynyas (MRPs). The latter are associated with a prominent seamount in the eastern Weddell Sea, and their preconditioning and formation is the focus of this study. The steep flanks of the rugged topography in this region are in E3SMv0-HR sufficiently well resolved for the impinging flow to produce pronounced Taylor caps that precondition the region for convection. Aided by an accumulation of heat in the Weddell Deep Water layer, the ultimate trigger of convection that leads to MRPs is the advection of anomalously high upper-ocean-layer salinity. The crucial difference to WSP-producingmore »
- Authors:
-
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Oceanography
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Oceanography
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1482161
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1483544
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-18-28028
Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Climate
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 31; Journal Issue: 23; Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Earth Sciences; Southern Ocean polynyas, ocean convection, air-sea interactions
Citation Formats
Kurtakoti, Prajvala, Veneziani, Milena, Stössel, Achim, and Weijer, Wilbert. Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1.
Kurtakoti, Prajvala, Veneziani, Milena, Stössel, Achim, & Weijer, Wilbert. Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model. United States. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1.
Kurtakoti, Prajvala, Veneziani, Milena, Stössel, Achim, and Weijer, Wilbert. Wed .
"Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model". United States. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1.
@article{osti_1482161,
title = {Preconditioning and Formation of Maud Rise Polynyas in a High-Resolution Earth System Model},
author = {Kurtakoti, Prajvala and Veneziani, Milena and Stössel, Achim and Weijer, Wilbert},
abstractNote = {Open-ocean polynyas (OOPs) in the Southern Ocean are ice-free areas within the winter ice pack that are associated with deep convection, potentially contributing to the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water. To enhance the credibility of Earth system models (ESMs), their ability to simulate OOPs realistically is thus crucial. Here we investigate OOPs that emerge intermittently in a high-resolution (HR) preindustrial simulation with the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, version 0.1 (E3SMv0), an offspring of the Community Earth System Model (CESM). While low-resolution (LR) simulations with E3SMv0 show no signs of OOP formation, the preindustrial E3SMv0-HR simulation produces both large Weddell Sea polynyas (WSPs) as well as small Maud Rise polynyas (MRPs). The latter are associated with a prominent seamount in the eastern Weddell Sea, and their preconditioning and formation is the focus of this study. The steep flanks of the rugged topography in this region are in E3SMv0-HR sufficiently well resolved for the impinging flow to produce pronounced Taylor caps that precondition the region for convection. Aided by an accumulation of heat in the Weddell Deep Water layer, the ultimate trigger of convection that leads to MRPs is the advection of anomalously high upper-ocean-layer salinity. The crucial difference to WSP-producing LR ESM simulations is that in E3SMv0-HR, WSPs are realistically preceded by MRPs, which in turn are a result of the flow around bathymetry being represented with unprecedented detail.},
doi = {10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1},
journal = {Journal of Climate},
number = 23,
volume = 31,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {11}
}
DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0392.1
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Figures / Tables:
FIG. 1. : (a) Satellite data (Maslanik and Stroeve 1999) and (b) simulated sea ice concentration during themonth of October (observation year 2017 and model year 33, respectively) over the Southern Ocean. The shaded dark blue region is the MRP. The location of the seamount peak is at 65°S, 2.5°E.
Works referencing / citing this record:
The Weddell Gyre, Southern Ocean: Present Knowledge and Future Challenges
journal, July 2019
- Vernet, M.; Geibert, W.; Hoppema, M.
- Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 57, Issue 3
Antarctic offshore polynyas linked to Southern Hemisphere climate anomalies
journal, June 2019
- Campbell, Ethan C.; Wilson, Earle A.; Moore, G. W. Kent
- Nature, Vol. 570, Issue 7761
Figures / Tables found in this record: