Publication Abstracts

Holzer and Primeau 2006

Holzer, M., and F.W. Primeau, 2006: The diffusive ocean conveyor. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L14618, doi:10.1029/2006GL026232.

We use a novel path-density transport diagnostic to trace out the deep branch of the ocean conveyor in a global circulation model. Our results suggest that the majority of the world's deep water is not transported back to the surface along the current systems of the standard great ocean conveyor (GOC). Standard GOC routes are evident only for waters with interior residence times, τ, less than about a thousand years, accounting for less than a quarter of the ventilation-to-re-exposure flux. Waters with longer τ are spread across the deep oceans by the "diffusive conveyor" and, by τ ∼ 3000 years, organized into a characteristic deep-North-Pacific pattern that is dominated by eddy diffusion. The observed depletion of oxygen and 14C in the deep N Pacific is consistent with a diffusive conveyor and should not be interpreted as evidence of an advective terminus of the GOC deep branch.

Export citation: [ BibTeX ] [ RIS ]

BibTeX Citation

@article{ho08200o,
  author={Holzer, M. and Primeau, F. W.},
  title={The diffusive ocean conveyor},
  year={2006},
  journal={Geophys. Res. Lett.},
  volume={33},
  pages={L14618},
  doi={10.1029/2006GL026232},
}

[ Close ]

RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ho08200o
AU  - Holzer, M.
AU  - Primeau, F. W.
PY  - 2006
TI  - The diffusive ocean conveyor
JA  - Geophys. Res. Lett.
VL  - 33
SP  - L14618
DO  - 10.1029/2006GL026232
ER  -

[ Close ]

• Return to 2006 Publications

• Return to Publications Homepage