Sensitivity of climate change to diapycnal diffusivity in the ocean

The diapycnal diffusivity of the ocean is one of the least known parameters in cur- rent climate models. Measurements of this diffusivity are sparse and insufficient for compiling a global map. Inferences from inverse methods and energy budget calculations suggests as much as a factor of 5 difference in the global mean value of the diapycnal diffusivity. Yet, the climate is extremely sensitive to the diapycnal diffusivity, as shown by studies using single-hemispheric ocean General Circulation Models (GCMs) and 2-dimensional coupled models. In this thesis we study the sensitivity of both the current climate and the climate change to the diapycnal diffusivity - using, for the first time, a coupled model with a 3-dimensional global ocean component and idealized geometry. Our results show that, at equilibrium, the strength of the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic scales with the 0.44 power of the diapycnal diffusivity, in contrast to the theoretical value of 2/3. On the other hand, the strength of the circulation in the South Pacific scales with the 0.63 power of the diapycnal diffusivity. The implication is that the amount of water upwelling from the deep ocean may be regulated by the diapycnal diffusion in the Indo-Pacific ocean. The vertical heat balance in the ocean is controlled by: in the downward direction, (i) advection and (ii) diapycnal diffusion; in the upward direction, (iii) isopycnal diffusion and (iv) bolus velocity (GM) advection. The size of the latter three fluxes increases with diapycnal diffusivity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Dalan, Fabio, 1975-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Peter H. Stone.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30129

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30129