Spiraling pathways of global deep waters to the surface of the Southern Ocean

Veronica Tamsitt (), Henri F. Drake, Adele K. Morrison, Lynne D. Talley, Carolina O. Dufour, Alison R. Gray, Stephen M. Griffies, Matthew R. Mazloff, Jorge L. Sarmiento, Jinbo Wang and Wilbert Weijer
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Veronica Tamsitt: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Henri F. Drake: Princeton University
Adele K. Morrison: Princeton University
Lynne D. Talley: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Carolina O. Dufour: Princeton University
Alison R. Gray: Princeton University
Stephen M. Griffies: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Matthew R. Mazloff: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Jorge L. Sarmiento: Princeton University
Jinbo Wang: California Institute of Technology
Wilbert Weijer: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Upwelling of global deep waters to the sea surface in the Southern Ocean closes the global overturning circulation and is fundamentally important for oceanic uptake of carbon and heat, nutrient resupply for sustaining oceanic biological production, and the melt rate of ice shelves. However, the exact pathways and role of topography in Southern Ocean upwelling remain largely unknown. Here we show detailed upwelling pathways in three dimensions, using hydrographic observations and particle tracking in high-resolution models. The analysis reveals that the northern-sourced deep waters enter the Antarctic Circumpolar Current via southward flow along the boundaries of the three ocean basins, before spiraling southeastward and upward through the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Upwelling is greatly enhanced at five major topographic features, associated with vigorous mesoscale eddy activity. Deep water reaches the upper ocean predominantly south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, with a spatially nonuniform distribution. The timescale for half of the deep water to upwell from 30° S to the mixed layer is ~60–90 years.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00197-0

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