A limited-area quasi-geostrophic numerical model with mesoscale resolution is developed to study the circulation in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. The model domain extends from the British Columbia/Alaska coast out to 170°W and down to 45°N, and incorporates the coastline geometry and bottom topography of the region.
In a benchmark experiment, the circulation is driven with a steady, climatological wind stress curl field. Statistical properties of the solution are determined from a long-term integration and compared with observations from the Gulf of Alaska. The cyclonic circulation of the model basin contains the analogue of a meandering Alaska Current. At the head of the Gulf, this current flows into an intense boundary current corresponding to the Alaskan Stream. Within the model Alaska Current, anticyclonic closed streamline features are occasionally generated which are representative of the Sitka Eddy, ln the upstream region, the model Alaskan Stream displays large amplitude aperiodic meanders, while, in the downstream region, the boundary current separates and is subject to smaller amplitude lateral meandering due to topographic waves. The occurrence of perturbations with similar characteristics in the Alaskan Stream has recently been verified in satellite AVHRR imagery.
The model is also used to examine the effects of bottom topography and seasonal wind forcing on the circulation of the subpolar gyre. The characteristics of the Alaskan Stream are shown to depend crucially on the presence of the Aleutian Trench. In an experiment with a flat bottom and steady forcing, the most energetic signal is due to mesoscale eddies with a 100 day period associated with barotropic wave propagation along the Aleutian arc. Bottom topography eliminates this signal by inhibiting the nonlinear transfer of energy between the first baroclinic and the barotropic mode, thereby stabilizing the model Alaskan Stream to baroclinic instability. Experiments with a climatological seasonal cycle in the wind field show that the bottom topography has an important influence in moderating the intensity of the seasonal response. This result is used to explain the discrepancy between observations of seasonal variability in the volume transport of the Alaskan Gyre and the transport obtained in previous numerical modelling studies. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/29082 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Cummins, Patrick F. |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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