Effect of opening the Drake Passage on the oceanic general circulation: A box model study

Abstract

The impacts of opening the Drake Passage (DP) on the oceanic general circulation are examined. When the DP is open, wind stress at mid- and high latitudes gives rise to a wind-driven gyre, which induces a meridional heat exchange between mid- and high latitudes in the Southern Ocean. After the opening of the DP, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) forms and its associated strong temperature front blocks the heat transport from mid-latitudes to high latitudes. A simple box model is formulated, in which the effects of the wind stress (for the case of DP closed) and the thermal front (for the case of DP open) on the variability of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) are explored. The sensitivity experiments demonstrate that: (1) When the DP is closed, the enhancement of the wind-driven gyre leads to the decline of AABW formation in the Southern Ocean and the increase of NADW formation in the North Atlantic. As a result, water in high latitudes of the Southern Ocean becomes warmer, so does the bottom water of global ocean. (2) When the DP is open, there is no formation of AABW until the intensity of thermal front along ACC exceeds a threshold value (it is 4.03°C in our model). Before the formation of AABW, temperature in most of the oceans is higher than that after the formation of AABW, which usually leads to the cooling of high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and the bottom water in global ocean. When the strength of the thermal front is lower than the critical value, there is no AABW formation, and temperature in most of the oceans is slightly higher. These results demonstrate that during the opening of the DP, changes in wind stress and the formation of the thermal front in the Southern Ocean can substantially affect the formation of AABW and NADW, thus changing the state of meridional overturning circulation in the global ocean.