Earth System Science ESS-200 Ocean Bruno Tremblay Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Atmosphere General Circulation 3-cell model Ferrel cell not well defined

Surface Ocean Current

Coastal Upwelling

Chlorophyll Concentration

Surface Ocean Current

Meridional Circulation

Surface Ocean Current

Equ

Global Thermohaline Circulation And this constitute the second major link between sea ice and the global climate. Sea ice typically leaves the Arctic and melt in the Greenland and Labrador Sea, two regions where the deep water is formed… This picture shows the global thermohaline circulation with surface water flowing northward in the Atlantic, cools and densifies and sinks and resurface in the north Pacific after (thousands of year time scale). Associated with this meridional current is a net heat transport northward since the surface water area warmer than the return flow at depth. Some believe that if the stratification is increased in the north Atlantic, convection in the Labrador and Greenland Sea could be cut, leading to a reduced heat lfux northwrd and consequently to a colder climate at high latitude. Of course there are sub-tropical mechanism responsible for fluctuation in the thermohaline circulation (such as precip and intensity of surface current and different residence time at certain location), but there are also high latitude mechanism involving sea ice that could also be very effective in producing changes. Of course, some people think that the role of the ocean is overestimated and that really the atm is doing most of the work...

CFC – Ocean Tracer Southern Ocean North Atlantic – 24N

Grand Banks Ocean Circulation

Sea Ice Drift

Ice Motion

International Arctic Buoy Program 1979-1998

Sea Surface Height

Topex Poseidon

Ocean Circulation Surface ocean circulation Meridional circulation

Sea Surface Heigh Topex Poseidon

Dynamic Ocean Topography

Sea Level Pressure Pattern

High and Low

Dynamic Ocean Topography

Ekman Spiral

Sea Surface Height