Temperature-salinity criterion for inhibition of deep convection

Abstract

Malmberg's salinity criterion for the inhibition of oceanic deep convection is extended here to account for increases in salinity caused by evaporation, brine rejection, and mixed-layer deepening. On a global ocean scale, the difference between Malmberg's criterion and the present criterion is relatively minor: both criteria suggest that the North Atlantic is salty enough to feed the global thermohaline overturning cell but that the North Pacific is too fresh. On a regional scale, the difference between the criteria is more significant. This is illustrated with surface salinity maps for the Greenland Sea, a region known to produce bottom water for the overturning cell. -from Author