Advances in Earth Science ›› 2000, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (3): 266-270. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2000.03.0266

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ADVANCES IN STUDY OF VENTILATED THERMOCLINE THEORY OF OCEAN CIRCULATION

DU Yan,WANG Dongxiao,SHI Ping   

  1. LED,South China Sea Institute of Oceanology,CAS,Guangzhou 510301,China
  • Received:1999-06-14 Revised:1999-11-23 Online:2000-06-01 Published:2000-06-01

DU Yan,WANG Dongxiao,SHI Ping. ADVANCES IN STUDY OF VENTILATED THERMOCLINE THEORY OF OCEAN CIRCULATION[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2000, 15(3): 266-270.

This paper introduces the major advances in the studies of the ventilated thermocline theory of ocean circulation. The progress in the study of the thermocline, the fundamental conception of the ventilated thermocline, the basic characteristics of circulation in the ventilated thermocline, and the results of the calculation of the ventilated thermocline are given in this paper. LPS' s model consists of a finite but arbitrarily number of inviscid, homogeneous fluid layers each with a different density. The dynamical balances everywhere are Sverdrupian. The position of the outcrop of density interfaces is specified. This outcropping of density allows deep motion to be excited by the ventilation provided by Ekman pumping even in latitudes far south of the outcrop where the layer is shielded from direct influence of the  wind. We make a point of how to get the three-dimensional characteristics of circulation according to the ventilated thermocline theory, using realistic surface boundary conditions which are taken from observations, and lateral conditions including the background stratification, the wind-stress curl, the depth of the mixed
layer, and the surface density field. At last, the recent studies of the ventilation thermocline are also discussed.

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