Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorGrahamHughes

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9701g.hughes

 
 
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Location

 

332Skempton BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Vreugdenhil:2015:10.1175/JPO-D-15-0050.1,
author = {Vreugdenhil, CA and Hogg, AMC and Griffiths, RW and Hughes, GO},
doi = {10.1175/JPO-D-15-0050.1},
journal = {Journal of Physical Oceanography},
pages = {731--747},
title = {Adjustment of the meridional overturning circulation and its dependence on depth of mixing},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-15-0050.1},
volume = {46},
year = {2015}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The relative roles of advective processes and mixing on the temporal adjustment of the meridional overturning circulation are examined, in particular the effects of mixing in either the abyssal or upper ocean. Laboratory experiments with convectively driven overturning and imposed stirring rates show that the circulation adjusts toward an equilibrium state on time scales governed by mixing in the upper boundary layer region but independent of the mixing rate in the bulk of the interior. The equilibrium state of the stratification is dependent only on the rate of mixing in the boundary layer. An idealized high-resolution ocean model shows adjustment (of a two-cell circulation) dominated primarily by the advective ventilation time scale, consistent with a view of the circulation determined by water mass transformation occurring primarily near the surface. Both the experiments and the model results indicate that adjustments of the circulation are controlled by surface buoyancy uptake (or rejection) and that the nonequilibrium circulation is dominated by advective processes, especially if the average abyssal ocean diffusivity is less than 3 × 10-5 m2 s-1.
AU  - Vreugdenhil,CA
AU  - Hogg,AMC
AU  - Griffiths,RW
AU  - Hughes,GO
DO  - 10.1175/JPO-D-15-0050.1
EP  - 747
PY  - 2015///
SN  - 0022-3670
SP  - 731
TI  - Adjustment of the meridional overturning circulation and its dependence on depth of mixing
T2  - Journal of Physical Oceanography
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-15-0050.1
VL  - 46
ER  -
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