Low-Frequency Modes of Tropical Ocean Dynamics*

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Abstract
Basinwide very low-frequency (VLF) modes with zonal uniformly deepening and shoaling of the equatorial thermocline are found as solutions of linear shallow-water equations with the meridional basin boundaries under an equatorial β plane. They can be understood as the free heat-content recharge oscillations. The interannual VLF modes had been recognized as the essential part of the coupled recharge oscillator theory for the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. It is suggested that the decadal VLF modes may also be transformed into coupled modes relevant to the Pacific decadal climate variability through the ocean–atmosphere interaction in the Tropics.