Inferring the zonal distribution of measured changes in the meridional overturning circulation

[摘要] Recently, hydrographic measurements have been used to argue that themeridional overturning circulation at 25° N has decreased by 30% overthe last 50 years. Here we show that the most likely interpretationconsistent with this approach (i.e., with the dynamic method together with alevel-of-no-motion assumption and Ekman dynamics) is that any decrease instrength of the deep western boundary current must have been compensated,not by a basin-wide increase in upper layer southward flow, but by changesin the nonlinear region immediately outside of the Florida Straits.

[学科分类] 海洋学与技术