The Birth and Evolution of Eastward-Propagating Modons

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Abstract
This paper addresses the tendency for an eastward-propagating modon to form from a mesoscale eddy which has an inclined vertical axis and different senses of rotation in the upper and deep oceans. This scenario, which has been observed in nature (McCartney et al., 1978; Savehenko et al., 1978), is modeled in a two-layer ocean by placing a cyclonic eddy in the upper ocean, and an anticyclonic eddy in the deep ocean; these two eddies have centers which are horizontally separated. Inferences about the tendency for modongenesis are made from analytical quasigeostrophic calculations and numerical primitive equation computations. Numerical experiments have been performed using radial velocity distributions ∝ r exp(−r2/2L2) in each layer. These results not only corroborate the analytical early-time inferences but expand the parameter range for which modongenesis occurs. If the upper wean vortex is cyclonic and lies due north of the deep ocean anticyclonic gyre, modongenesis occurs when the vortex center... Abstract This paper addresses the tendency for an eastward-propagating modon to form from a mesoscale eddy which has an inclined vertical axis and different senses of rotation in the upper and deep oceans. This scenario, which has been observed in nature (McCartney et al., 1978; Savehenko et al., 1978), is modeled in a two-layer ocean by placing a cyclonic eddy in the upper ocean, and an anticyclonic eddy in the deep ocean; these two eddies have centers which are horizontally separated. Inferences about the tendency for modongenesis are made from analytical quasigeostrophic calculations and numerical primitive equation computations. Numerical experiments have been performed using radial velocity distributions ∝ r exp(−r2/2L2) in each layer. These results not only corroborate the analytical early-time inferences but expand the parameter range for which modongenesis occurs. If the upper wean vortex is cyclonic and lies due north of the deep ocean anticyclonic gyre, modongenesis occurs when the vortex center...

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