A series of numerical experiments are conducted using the Bryan-Cox Ocean General Circulation Model to investigate the potential existence of low-frequency variability of the thermohaline circulation under seasonal forcing. Experiments are performed with different combinations of a seasonal cycle being present or not on the restoring temperature, the surface freshwater flux fields (mixed boundary conditions) and the surface wind forcing. / Despite the presence of the forcing on the dominant seasonal timescale, it is found that the system may oscillate at the decadal period or longer. The decadal variability is excited by changes in the net surface density flux which are due to the advection of temperature and salinity anomalies in the model domain. The magnitude of the seasonal cycle also plays an important role in determining the timescale of variability. Violent overturning events may occur on the century timescale under seasonal forcing. The magnitudes of the flushes are reduced compared to those found in similar experiments without the presence of a seasonal cycle.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.60722 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Myers, Paul Glen |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Meteorology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001287769, proquestno: AAIMM74584, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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