The Oceanic Thermocline and the Associated Thermohaline Circulation
Open Access
- 1 August 1959
- journal article
- Published by Stockholm University Press in Tellus
- Vol. 11 (3) , 295-308
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1959.tb00035.x
Abstract
A study is made of the thermal structure of an ocean which is dynamically geostrophic, bounded by an eastern coast, and driven by an imposed surface temperature distribution and wind-stress. The heat equation contains vertical diffusion in the form of a virtual eddy mixing parameter and non-linear terms of vertical and north-south advection. Comparison of the results with the North Atlantic shows an agreement with the observed temperature distribution in the thermocline region, including the deepening of isotherms in mid-latitudes. The value of the vertical component of velocity at the bottom of the thermocline is predicted, and a numerical value for the eddy-conductivity obtained. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1959.tb00035.xKeywords
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