Abstract
Abstract Both wind and buoyancy forcing result in variability in the North Pacific Ocean thermocline. A vertical modal analysis of the density deviations in a 30-yr run of an ocean general circulation model of the North Pacific forced by atmospheric variability is used to identify the spatial and temporal patterns of the different baroclinic modes. The different dynamic vertical modes show distinct propagation characteristics, with the first baroclinic mode exhibiting consistent westward propagation at all latitudes. The higher baroclinic modes show westward phase propagation at low latitudes but propagate eastward at higher latitudes. The propagation characteristics of each mode can be understood by the inclusion of the zonal mean flow in the vertical structure equation. Evaluation of the Ekman pumping and diapycnal fluxes in the quasigeostrophic potential vorticity equation for each dynamic vertical mode distinguishes their effects on the thermocline variability. Wind variability dominantly forces the f...
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