A Zonally Averaged Ocean Model for the Thermohaline Circulation. Part I: Model Development and Flow Dynamics

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Abstract
A two-dimensional latitude–depth ocean model is developed on the basis of the zonally averaged balance equations of mass, momentum, heat, and salt. Its purpose is to investigate the dynamics and variability of the buoyancy-forced thermohaline circulation. For the time scales of interest an annually averaged model is selected, and the momentum balance is taken to be diagnostic. The east-west pressure gradient, which arises upon zonally averaging the momentum equations, is parameterized in terms of the meridional pressure gradient. The thermohaline circulation is driven by mixed surface boundary conditions, i.e., temperatures are relaxed to prescribed values while the salt flux is held constant. The dynamics of the flow is investigated in hemispheric and global geometries for both short and long time integrations, the latter extending over many thousands of years. As has been noted by previous investigators, it is possible to perturb a steady state such that a diffusively dominated regime results. ... Abstract A two-dimensional latitude–depth ocean model is developed on the basis of the zonally averaged balance equations of mass, momentum, heat, and salt. Its purpose is to investigate the dynamics and variability of the buoyancy-forced thermohaline circulation. For the time scales of interest an annually averaged model is selected, and the momentum balance is taken to be diagnostic. The east-west pressure gradient, which arises upon zonally averaging the momentum equations, is parameterized in terms of the meridional pressure gradient. The thermohaline circulation is driven by mixed surface boundary conditions, i.e., temperatures are relaxed to prescribed values while the salt flux is held constant. The dynamics of the flow is investigated in hemispheric and global geometries for both short and long time integrations, the latter extending over many thousands of years. As has been noted by previous investigators, it is possible to perturb a steady state such that a diffusively dominated regime results. ...

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