Articles

One Question of the Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation:Whether Deepwater Formation in the North Pacific 

  • LIU Yu ,
  • GUAN Yu-ping
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  • 1.Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Environmental Dynamics, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS, Guangzhou 510301, China;2.State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS, Beijing 100029, China;3. Marine Science College, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China;4. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Received date: 2006-05-24

  Revised date: 2006-09-25

  Online published: 2006-11-15

Abstract

One of the characteristics of modern thermohaline circulation is that deepwater produced in the North Atlantic but not in the North Pacific, and this asymmetry has a deep impact on the climate. Theoretically, there are multi-equilibria states of the thermohaline circulation corresponding to different climates. However, whether the deep water was produced in the ancient North Pacific is a debate topic. Reasons of no deepwater formation in the modern North Pacific are introduced. Among others, vapor transport by Asian monsoon and lower evaporation are two major factors.

Cite this article

LIU Yu , GUAN Yu-ping . One Question of the Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation:Whether Deepwater Formation in the North Pacific [J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2006 , 21(11) : 1185 -1192 . DOI: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2006.11.1185

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