Open AccessRole of deep stratification in transporting deep water from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Author(s) -
Nakata Minoru,
Suginohara Nobuo
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/97jc02547
Subject(s) - circumpolar deep water , sill , geology , oceanography , downwelling , stratification (seeds) , north atlantic deep water , antarctic bottom water , bottom water , antarctic intermediate water , deep water , water mass , forcing (mathematics) , bay , deep sea , upwelling , climatology , geochemistry , seed dormancy , botany , germination , dormancy , biology
We investigate the mechanism of the connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific deep water through the Antarctic Circumpolar Current by using an idealized two‐basin model. It is found that the presence of the marked density stratification in the circumpolar region well below the Drake Passage sill is essential for reproducing the realistic connection. The deep stratification forms when a body forcing is imposed at the bottom level in the bottom water formation region. The body forcing is to mimic the formation process of the Antarctic Bottom Water, in which its characteristics are obtained through entrainment during downwelling. Then the bottom water is confined to the depths well below the Drake Passage sill and the deep water from the north tends to occupy the depths even below the Drake Passage sill. Flowing around Antarctica the water from the north upwells owing to the Ekman suction. Consequently, realistic water property distributions in the deep Pacific are well reproduced. It is demonstrated that this mechanism works in the world ocean model.