Open AccessMechanisms of Decadal Variability of the Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation
Author(s) -
Andrew McC. Hogg,
Peter D. Killworth,
Jeffrey R. Blundell,
William K. Dewar
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of physical oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1520-0485
pISSN - 0022-3670
DOI - 10.1175/jpo2687.1
Subject(s) - baroclinity , eddy , ocean gyre , boundary current , advection , ocean current , climatology , vorticity , circulation (fluid dynamics) , potential vorticity , inertial frame of reference , flow (mathematics) , inertial wave , current (fluid) , mode (computer interface) , geology , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , oceanography , mechanics , vortex , physics , turbulence , classical mechanics , computer science , biology , operating system , thermodynamics , subtropics , fishery , mechanical wave , quantum mechanics , wave propagation , longitudinal wave
Eddy-resolving quasigeostrophic simulations of wind-driven circulation in a large ocean basin are presented. The results show that strong modes of low-frequency variability arise in many parameter regimes and that the strength of these modes depends upon the presence of inertial recirculations in the flow field. The inertial recirculations arise through advection of anomalous potential vorticity by the western boundary current and are barotropized by the effect of baroclinic eddies in the flow. The mechanism of low-frequency oscillations is explored with reference to previous studies, and it is found that the observed mode can be linked to the gyre mode but is strongly modified by the effect of eddies