Abstract
Abstract The cabbeling that arises as a consequence of isopycnal mixing in a North Atlantic model based on MICOM (the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Model) is quantified. Annually averaged over the model Atlantic, the diapycnal volume flux associated with cabbeling reaches 1.5 Sv, with an associated net density flux of 2 × 106 kg s−1 (equivalent to an annual-basin mean cooling of 0.6 W m−2). Over the range of densities that incorporate the major water masses of the model Atlantic, cabbeling effectively weakens the density flux due to parameterized diapycnal turbulent mixing by ∼25%. The strength of cabbeling varies in proportion to the isopycnal mixing of heat and salt, the local buoyancy frequency, and a “cabbeling parameter” (which is inversely proportional to temperature). As a consequence of these dependencies, cabbeling is highly localized and seasonal. In the model, strongest cabbeling occurs during summer at the subpolar front in the northwest Atlantic. Model cabbeling arises both physically (due to th...
Published Version
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