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Importance of the Variability of Hydrographic Preconditioning for Deep Convection in the Gulf of Lion, NW Mediterranean

Importance of the Variability of Hydrographic Preconditioning for Deep Convection in the Gulf of Lion, NW Mediterranean
Importance of the Variability of Hydrographic Preconditioning for Deep Convection in the Gulf of Lion, NW Mediterranean
We study the variability of hydrographic preconditioning
defined as the heat and salt contents in the Ligurian Sea before convection. The stratification is found to reach a maximum in the intermediate layer in December, whose causes and consequences for the interannual variability of
convection are investigated. Further study of the interannual variability and correlation tests between the properties of the deep water formed and the winter surface fluxes support the description of convection as a process that transfers the heat and salt contents from the top and intermediate layers to the deep layer. A proxy for the rate of transfer is given by the final convective mixed layer depth, that is shown to depend equally on the surface fluxes and on the preconditioning. In particular, it is found that deep convection in winter 2004–2005 would have happened even with normal winter conditions, due to low pre-winter stratification.
1812-0792
573-586
Grignon, L.
311a4ee0-2ee3-4a48-9d42-cafd0aa13e1b
Smeed, D.A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
Bryden, H.L.
7f823946-34e8-48a3-8bd4-a72d2d749184
Schroeder, K.
3a18c5cf-33b3-40c7-8aa7-f7dcbe452259
Grignon, L.
311a4ee0-2ee3-4a48-9d42-cafd0aa13e1b
Smeed, D.A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
Bryden, H.L.
7f823946-34e8-48a3-8bd4-a72d2d749184
Schroeder, K.
3a18c5cf-33b3-40c7-8aa7-f7dcbe452259

Grignon, L., Smeed, D.A., Bryden, H.L. and Schroeder, K. (2010) Importance of the Variability of Hydrographic Preconditioning for Deep Convection in the Gulf of Lion, NW Mediterranean. Ocean Science, 6 (2), 573-586. (doi:10.5194/os-6-573-2010).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We study the variability of hydrographic preconditioning
defined as the heat and salt contents in the Ligurian Sea before convection. The stratification is found to reach a maximum in the intermediate layer in December, whose causes and consequences for the interannual variability of
convection are investigated. Further study of the interannual variability and correlation tests between the properties of the deep water formed and the winter surface fluxes support the description of convection as a process that transfers the heat and salt contents from the top and intermediate layers to the deep layer. A proxy for the rate of transfer is given by the final convective mixed layer depth, that is shown to depend equally on the surface fluxes and on the preconditioning. In particular, it is found that deep convection in winter 2004–2005 would have happened even with normal winter conditions, due to low pre-winter stratification.

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Published date: 2010
Organisations: Marine Systems Modelling

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 155979
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/155979
ISSN: 1812-0792
PURE UUID: 902c1355-6fb8-4f4b-84ea-e5e4f60b18b3
ORCID for H.L. Bryden: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8216-6359

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Date deposited: 28 May 2010 16:37
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:39

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Contributors

Author: L. Grignon
Author: D.A. Smeed
Author: H.L. Bryden ORCID iD
Author: K. Schroeder

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