A multilayer model of the thermohaline and wind-driven ocean circulation.

Abstract

Features of a hybrid multilayer model for the oceanic general circulation are described. Initial tests covering a subtropical subpolar basin showed a strong interaction between the wind driven and the thermally driven circulations, a Gulf Stream like interior boundary current, and convection, which produces mode water and abyssal water. The potential vorticity balance and its relation to the wind driven and thermohaline components of the circulation are discussed.