Claus, Martin , Greatbatch, Richard John and Brandt, Peter (2018) Driving mechanisms for maintaining the equatorial deep jets and the quasi-steady flanking jets and the implications for the equatorial oxygen budget. [Talk] In: Ocean Deoxygenation: Drivers and Consequences - Past/Present/Future. International Conference. , 03.-07.09.2018, Kiel, Germany .

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Abstract

The equatorial deep jets and the quasi-steady flanking jets are part of the zonal jet
system in the equatorial ocean and play a role in setting the equatorial maximum in
oxygen that has been known since the Meteor cruises from the 1920’s. Nevertheless,
these zonal jets are missing from the models we use for ocean/climate studies, even
ocean models with high horizontal resolution. Here we present a new perspective
on the dynamics of the equatorial ocean and show, using mooring data and idealized
model simulations, that the equatorial deep jets are maintained by the convergence
of meridional flux of zonal momentum on the equator associated with intraseasonal
waves, analogous to the maintenance of the atmospheric jet stream by mid-latitude
storm systems. The main driving mechanism for the quasi-steady flanking jets might
be related to the existence of equatorial deep jets producing a zonal flux of zonal
momentum thus maintaining a nearly depth independent westward flow at the
equator embedded in eastward flow at 2° latitude on both sides of the equator. The
implications for modelling the oxygen distribution in the equatorial ocean will be
discussed.

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