Abstract
A calculation to determine the poleward heat flux by an oceanic subtropical gyre is described. The circulation is given by Stommel's (1948) barotropic wind-driven model, and the temperature field is treated as a passive tracer. Air-sea heat exchange is parameterized as linearly proportional to the difference between air and sea temperatures. The problem so formulated reduces to the solution of the advection-diffusion (heat) equation for the temperature. The results show how ocean circulation, with a narrow western boundary layer, transports significantly more heat than does a symmetric circulation. A more intense circulation transports more heat but the increase levels off beyond a certain point. A wide ocean basin transports more of its heat by conduction than does a narrow basin. Approximate analytical solutions for both weak and strong circulations yield results that agree semiquantitatively with the numerical results.
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