Dynamical role of mode water ventilation in decadal variability in the central subtropical gyre of the North Pacific

Abstract

Decadal variability in the interior subtropical North Pacific is examined in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory coupled model (CM2.1). Superimposed on a broad, classical subtropical gyre is a narrow jet called the subtropical countercurrent (STCC) that flows northeastward against the northeast trade winds. Consistent with observations, the STCC is anchored by mode water characterized by its low potential vorticity (PV). Mode water forms in the deep winter mixed layer of the Kuroshio-Oyashio Extension (KOE) east of Japan and flows southward riding on the subtropical gyre and preserving its low-PV characteristic. As a thick layer of uniform properties, the mode water forces the upper pycnocline to shoal, and the associated eastward shear results in the surface-intensified STCC. On decadal time scales in the central subtropical gyre (15deg;-35deg;N, 170deg;E-130deg;W), the dominant mode of sea surface height variability is characterized by the strengthening and weakening of the STCC because of variations in mode water ventilation. The changes in mode water can be further traced upstream to variability in the mixed layer depth and subduction rate in the KOE region. Both the mean and anomalies of STCC induce significant sea surface temperature anomalies via thermal advection. Clear atmospheric response is seen in wind curls, with patterns suggestive of positive coupled feedback. In oceanic and coupled models, northeast-slanted bands often appear in anomalies of temperature and circulation at and beneath the surface. The results of this study show that such slanted bands are characteristic of changes in mode water ventilation. Indeed, this natural mode of STCC variability is excited by global warming, resulting in banded structures in sea surface warming. © 2011 American Meteorological Society.