Premium
Temperature as a passive isopycnal tracer in salty, spiceless oceans
Author(s) -
Stipa Tapani
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl014532
Subject(s) - advection , isopycnal , baroclinity , oceanography , the arctic , halocline , geology , deep ocean water , decoupling (probability) , tracer , arctic , climatology , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , seawater , salinity , thermodynamics , physics , engineering , control engineering , nuclear physics
The decoupling between the gradients of temperature and density in cold, relatively fresh oceanic waters is discussed from a theoretical standpoint and furthermore demonstrated on the basis of observations from the Baltic Sea. Near the temperature of maximum density, the thermal expansion coefficient is effectively zero, hereby de facto making temperature a passive tracer. As a consequence, the baroclinic advection of heat anomalies is determined by freshwater gradients. Recognition of such dynamics could prove helpful for the understanding of a warmer, fresher future Arctic Ocean, as projected by the IPCC.