Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
An Eddy-admitting Global Ice-ocean Simulation
Elizabeth C. Hunke1, Mathew Maltrud2, Rainer Bleck3
1Fluid Dynamics Group, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS-B216, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA, Phone 505-665-9852, Fax 505-665-5926, eclare@lanl.gov
2Fluid Dynamics Group, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS-B216, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA, Phone 505-667-9097, Fax 505-665-5926, maltrud@lanl.gov
3Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Labs, Mail Stop B296, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA, Phone 505-665-9150, bleck@lanl.gov
Physical oceanographers have determined that the downwelling limbs of the thermohaline circulation occur in relatively few places in the global ocean, notably in the Greenland, Labrador and Mediterranean seas and a few locations around the Antarctic continent. Except for the Mediterranean, all of these locations are at least seasonally affected by the presence of sea ice.
Recent modeling work at Los Alamos National Laboratory has focused on factors affecting the global thermohaline circulation. Here we present an eddy admitting simulation of the global ocean circulation using an ice-ocean coupled model. The simulation features a vigorous thermohaline circulation with global mass and heat transports that agree well with observational estimates, and it provides a consistent picture of the freshwater fluxes through the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas. Net downwelling occurs near the sea ice edge in selected areas.
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