ON THE THERMODYNAMICS OF SUBDUCTION

Journal article

For a parcel of fluid in the mixed layer to pass into the stratified thermocline - to subduct - it must be stratified by buoyancy input; this buoyancy can be supplied by local air-sea exchange and/or by lateral advective processes. A series of experiments is described in which a mixed layer, coupled to an ideal-fluid thermocline, undergoes differing seasonal cycles. The authors conclude that in ocean models that do not explicitly represent a seasonal cycle it is necessary to parameterize the process through a prescription of the winter mixed layer density and depth. The buoyancy forcing diagnosed from such models must be interpreted as the combined contribution of the annual air-sea exchange and lateral advective processes in the summer Ekman layer. -from Authors

Authors: Marshall, D; Marshall, J

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 138-151
• Publication date: 1995-01-01
• DOI: 10.1175/1520-0485(1995)025<0138:OTTOS>2.0.CO;2
• EISSN: 1520-0485
• ISSN: 0022-3670