Response of a Strongly Eddying Global Ocean to North Atlantic Freshwater Perturbations
Abstract
The strongly eddying version of the Parallel Ocean Program (POP) is used in two 45-yr simulations to investigate the response of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) to strongly enhanced freshwater input due to Greenland melting, with an integrated flux of 0.5 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1). For comparison, a similar set of experiments is performed using a noneddying version of POP. The aim is to identify the signature of the salt advection feedback in the two configurations. For this reason, surface salinity is not restored in these experiments. The freshwater input leads to a quantitatively comparable reduction of the overturning strength in the two models. To examine the importance of transient effects in the relation between AMOC strength and density distribution, the results of the eddy-resolving model are related to water mass transformation theory. The freshwater forcing leads to a reduction of the rate of light to dense water conversion in the North Atlantic, but there is no change in dense to light transformation elsewhere, implying that high density layers are continuously deflating. The main focus of the paper is on the effect of the AMOC reduction on the basinwide advection of freshwater. The low-resolution modelmore »
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Utrecht (Netherlands). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, and Inst. for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia). Climate Change Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1565242
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 44; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3670
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Oceanography
Citation Formats
Toom, Matthijs den, Dijkstra, Henk A., Weijer, Wilbert, Hecht, Matthew W., Maltrud, Mathew E., and van Sebille, Erik. Response of a Strongly Eddying Global Ocean to North Atlantic Freshwater Perturbations. United States: N. p., 2014.
Web. doi:10.1175/jpo-d-12-0155.1.
Toom, Matthijs den, Dijkstra, Henk A., Weijer, Wilbert, Hecht, Matthew W., Maltrud, Mathew E., & van Sebille, Erik. Response of a Strongly Eddying Global Ocean to North Atlantic Freshwater Perturbations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-12-0155.1
Toom, Matthijs den, Dijkstra, Henk A., Weijer, Wilbert, Hecht, Matthew W., Maltrud, Mathew E., and van Sebille, Erik. Wed .
"Response of a Strongly Eddying Global Ocean to North Atlantic Freshwater Perturbations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-12-0155.1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1565242.
@article{osti_1565242,
title = {Response of a Strongly Eddying Global Ocean to North Atlantic Freshwater Perturbations},
author = {Toom, Matthijs den and Dijkstra, Henk A. and Weijer, Wilbert and Hecht, Matthew W. and Maltrud, Mathew E. and van Sebille, Erik},
abstractNote = {The strongly eddying version of the Parallel Ocean Program (POP) is used in two 45-yr simulations to investigate the response of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) to strongly enhanced freshwater input due to Greenland melting, with an integrated flux of 0.5 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1). For comparison, a similar set of experiments is performed using a noneddying version of POP. The aim is to identify the signature of the salt advection feedback in the two configurations. For this reason, surface salinity is not restored in these experiments. The freshwater input leads to a quantitatively comparable reduction of the overturning strength in the two models. To examine the importance of transient effects in the relation between AMOC strength and density distribution, the results of the eddy-resolving model are related to water mass transformation theory. The freshwater forcing leads to a reduction of the rate of light to dense water conversion in the North Atlantic, but there is no change in dense to light transformation elsewhere, implying that high density layers are continuously deflating. The main focus of the paper is on the effect of the AMOC reduction on the basinwide advection of freshwater. The low-resolution model results show a change of the net freshwater advection that is consistent with the salt advection feedback. However, for the eddy-resolving model, the net freshwater advection into the Atlantic basin appears to be unaffected, despite the significant change in the large-scale velocity structure.},
doi = {10.1175/jpo-d-12-0155.1},
journal = {Journal of Physical Oceanography},
number = 2,
volume = 44,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Wed Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Works referenced in this record:
The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data – HOAPS-3
journal, January 2010
- Andersson, A.; Fennig, K.; Klepp, C.
- Earth System Science Data Discussions, Vol. 3, Issue 1
Interior pathways of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
journal, May 2009
- Bower, Amy S.; Lozier, M. Susan; Gary, Stefan F.
- Nature, Vol. 459, Issue 7244
High-latitude salinity effects and interhemispheric thermohaline circulations
journal, September 1986
- Bryan, Frank
- Nature, Vol. 323, Issue 6086
South Atlantic overturning circulation at 24°S
journal, January 2011
- Bryden, Harry L.; King, Brian A.; McCarthy, Gerard D.
- Journal of Marine Research, Vol. 69, Issue 1
Temporal Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 N
journal, August 2007
- Cunningham, S. A.; Kanzow, T.; Rayner, D.
- Science, Vol. 317, Issue 5840
Meridional Density Gradients Do Not Control the Atlantic Overturning Circulation
journal, February 2010
- de Boer, Agatha M.; Gnanadesikan, Anand; Edwards, Neil R.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 2
Effect of Atmospheric Feedbacks on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
journal, June 2012
- Toom, Matthijs den; Dijkstra, Henk A.; Cimatoribus, Andrea A.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 25, Issue 12
Characterization of the multiple equilibria regime in a global ocean model
journal, January 2007
- Dijkstra, Henk A.
- Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, Vol. 59, Issue 5
Scaling of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in a global ocean model
journal, August 2008
- Dijkstra, Henk A.
- Tellus A, Vol. 60, Issue 4
The stability of the MOC as diagnosed from model projections for pre-industrial, present and future climates
journal, October 2010
- Drijfhout, Sybren S.; Weber, Susanne L.; van der Swaluw, Eric
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 37, Issue 7-8
Implicit free-surface method for the Bryan-Cox-Semtner ocean model
journal, January 1994
- Dukowicz, John K.; Smith, Richard D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 99, Issue C4
Sensitivity of a global ocean model to increased run-off from Greenland
journal, January 2006
- Gerdes, Rüdiger; Hurlin, William; Griffies, Stephen M.
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 12, Issue 3-4
The relation of meridional pressure gradients to North Atlantic deep water volume transport in an ocean general circulation model
journal, March 2006
- Griesel, Alexa; Maqueda, Miguel Angel Morales
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 26, Issue 7-8
Role of the Bering Strait on the hysteresis of the ocean conveyor belt circulation and glacial climate stability
journal, April 2012
- Hu, A.; Meehl, G. A.; Han, W.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 17
An Indicator of the Multiple Equilibria Regime of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
journal, March 2010
- Huisman, Selma E.; den Toom, Matthijs; Dijkstra, Henk A.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 3
A New Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Boundary Dataset for the Community Atmosphere Model
journal, October 2008
- Hurrell, James W.; Hack, James J.; Shea, Dennis
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 21, Issue 19
Boundary impulse response functions in a century-long eddying global ocean simulation
journal, October 2009
- Maltrud, Mathew; Bryan, Frank; Peacock, Synte
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 10, Issue 1-2
Short-term impacts of enhanced Greenland freshwater fluxes in an eddy-permitting ocean model
journal, January 2010
- Marsh, R.; Desbruyères, D.; Bamber, J. L.
- Ocean Science, Vol. 6, Issue 3
Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Mass-Balance Modeling in a 131-Yr Perspective, 1950–2080
journal, February 2010
- Mernild, Sebastian H.; Liston, Glen E.; Hiemstra, Christopher A.
- Journal of Hydrometeorology, Vol. 11, Issue 1
Explicit Generation of Orthogonal Grids for Ocean Models
journal, July 1996
- Murray, Ross J.
- Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 126, Issue 2
A Theory of the Interhemispheric Meridional Overturning Circulation and Associated Stratification
journal, October 2012
- Nikurashin, Maxim; Vallis, Geoffrey
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 42, Issue 10
On the freshwater forcing and transport of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation
journal, November 1996
- Rahmstorf, S.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 12, Issue 12
Changes in the Velocity Structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet
journal, February 2006
- Rignot, E.
- Science, Vol. 311, Issue 5763
Acceleration of the contribution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to sea level rise: ACCELERATION OF ICE SHEET LOSS
journal, March 2011
- Rignot, E.; Velicogna, I.; van den Broeke, M. R.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 5
Constraints on the duration and freshwater release of Heinrich event 4 through isotope modelling
journal, November 2004
- Roche, D.; Paillard, D.; Cortijo, E.
- Nature, Vol. 432, Issue 7015
Thermohaline Convection with Two Stable Regimes of Flow
journal, January 1961
- Stommel, Henry
- Tellus, Vol. 13, Issue 2
Effect of drake passage on the global thermohaline circulation
journal, April 1995
- Toggweiler, J. R.; Samuels, B.
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 42, Issue 4
On the relation between sea-surface heat flow and thermal circulation in the ocean
journal, January 1982
- Walin, GöSta
- Tellus, Vol. 34, Issue 2
Impact of Interbasin Exchange on the Atlantic Overturning Circulation
journal, September 1999
- Weijer, Wilbert; de Ruijter, Wilhelmus P. M.; Dijkstra, Henk A.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 29, Issue 9
Response of the Atlantic Ocean circulation to Greenland Ice Sheet melting in a strongly-eddying ocean model: OVERTURNING RESPONSE
journal, May 2012
- Weijer, W.; Maltrud, M. E.; Hecht, M. W.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 39, Issue 9
Overturning Circulation in an Eddy-Resolving Model: The Effect of the Pole-to-Pole Temperature Gradient
journal, January 2009
- Wolfe, Christopher L.; Cessi, Paola
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 39, Issue 1
The Adiabatic Pole-to-Pole Overturning Circulation
journal, September 2011
- Wolfe, Christopher L.; Cessi, Paola
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 41, Issue 9
The relation of meridional pressure gradients to North Atlantic deep water volume transport in an ocean general circulation model
journal, March 2006
- Griesel, Alexa; Maqueda, Miguel Angel Morales
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 26, Issue 7-8
On the freshwater forcing and transport of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation
journal, November 1996
- Rahmstorf, S.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 12, Issue 12
Boundary impulse response functions in a century-long eddying global ocean simulation
journal, October 2009
- Maltrud, Mathew; Bryan, Frank; Peacock, Synte
- Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 10, Issue 1-2
Response of the global ocean to Greenland and Antarctic ice melting
journal, January 2008
- Stammer, D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue C6
Tracing the conveyor belt in the Hamburg large-scale geostrophic ocean general circulation model
journal, October 1996
- Drijfhout, Sybren S.; Maier-Reimer, Ernst; Mikolajewicz, Uwe
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 101, Issue C10
Interior pathways of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
journal, May 2009
- Bower, Amy S.; Lozier, M. Susan; Gary, Stefan F.
- Nature, Vol. 459, Issue 7244
Thermohaline Convection with Two Stable Regimes of Flow
journal, May 1961
- Stommel, Henry
- Tellus, Vol. 13, Issue 2
A Theory of Deep Stratification and Overturning Circulation in the Ocean
journal, March 2011
- Nikurashin, Maxim; Vallis, Geoffrey
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 41, Issue 3
On the relation between sea-surface heat flow and thermal circulation in the ocean
journal, January 1982
- Walin, GöSta
- Tellus, Vol. 34, Issue 2
The Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data – HOAPS-3
journal, January 2010
- Andersson, A.; Fennig, K.; Klepp, C.
- Earth System Science Data Discussions, Vol. 3, Issue 1
Short-term impacts of enhanced Greenland freshwater fluxes in an eddy-permitting ocean model
journal, November 2009
- Marsh, R.; Desbruyeres, D.; Bamber, J. L.
- Ocean Science Discussions
Works referencing / citing this record:
Observable, low-order dynamical controls on thresholds of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
journal, September 2019
- Wood, Richard A.; Rodríguez, José M.; Smith, Robin S.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 53, Issue 11
Effects of Drake Passage on a strongly eddying global ocean: DRAKE PASSAGE IN AN EDDYING GLOBAL OCEAN
journal, May 2016
- Viebahn, Jan P.; von der Heydt, Anna S.; Le Bars, Dewi
- Paleoceanography, Vol. 31, Issue 5
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean
journal, June 2016
- Böning, Claus W.; Behrens, Erik; Biastoch, Arne
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 9, Issue 7
Impact of climate variability on the tidal oceanic magnetic signal-A model-based sensitivity study: OCEAN TIDE MAGNETIC SIGNAL VARIABILITY
journal, August 2016
- Saynisch, J.; Petereit, J.; Irrgang, C.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 121, Issue 8
Recent progress in understanding climate thresholds: Ice sheets, the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, tropical forests and responses to ocean acidification
journal, February 2018
- Good, Peter; Bamber, Jonathan; Halladay, Kate
- Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, Vol. 42, Issue 1
Impacts of Basin-Scale Climate Modes on Coastal Sea Level: a Review
journal, August 2019
- Han, Weiqing; Stammer, Detlef; Thompson, Philip
- Surveys in Geophysics, Vol. 40, Issue 6
Impacts of Basin-Scale Climate Modes on Coastal Sea Level: a Review
journal, August 2019
- Han, Weiqing; Stammer, Detlef; Thompson, Philip
- Surveys in Geophysics, Vol. 40, Issue 6
A realistic freshwater forcing protocol for ocean-coupled climate models
journal, September 2014
- van den Berk, J.; Drijfhout, S. S.
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 81
Resolution dependency of sinking Lagrangian particles in ocean general circulation models
journal, September 2020
- Nooteboom, Peter D.; Delandmeter, Philippe; van Sebille, Erik
- PLOS ONE, Vol. 15, Issue 9
Changes in extreme regional sea surface height due to an abrupt weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
journal, November 2014
- Brunnabend, S. -E.; Dijkstra, H. A.; Kliphuis, M. A.
- Ocean Science, Vol. 10, Issue 6