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Published May 2018 | public
Journal Article

Atlantic-Pacific Asymmetry in Deep-Water Formation

Abstract

While the Atlantic Ocean is ventilated by high-latitude deep water formation and exhibits a pole-to-pole overturning circulation, the Pacific Ocean does not. This asymmetric global overturning pattern has persisted for the past 2–3 million years, with evidence for different ventilation modes in the deeper past. In the current climate, the Atlantic-Pacific asymmetry occurs because the Atlantic is more saline, enabling deep convection. To what extent the salinity contrast between the two basins is dominated by atmospheric processes (larger net evaporation over the Atlantic) or oceanic processes (salinity transport into the Atlantic) remains an outstanding question. Numerical simulations have provided support for both mechanisms; observations of the present climate support a strong role for atmospheric processes as well as some modulation by oceanic processes. A major avenue for future work is the quantification of the various processes at play to identify which mechanisms are primary in different climate states.

Additional Information

© 2018 Annual Reviews. Review in Advance first posted online on March 15, 2018. The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review. We acknowledge funding from the International Meteorological Institute and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research for the workshop on "The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a Global Perspective" held at Stockholm University in September 2015. P.C., J.F.M., and T.S. acknowledge support from the US National Science Foundation (grant OCE-1634128 to P.C., grant AGS-1635019 to J.F.M., and grant AGS-1019211 to T.S.). T.E. acknowledges support from the Research Council of Norway (project NORTH). T.S. thanks Ryan Abernathey and Laure Zanna for helpful discussions.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023