Three-Dimensional Structure of the Wind-Driven Circulation in the Subtropical North Pacific

Abstract

Abstract The subduction rate is calculated for the North Pacific based on Levitus climatology data and Hellerman and Rosenstein wind stress data. Because the period of effective subduction is rather short, subduction rates calculated in Eulerian and Lagrangian coordinates are very close. The subduction rate defined in the Lagrangian sense consists of two parts. The first part is due to the vertical pumping along the one-year trajectory, and the second part is due to the difference in the winter mixed layer depth over the one-year trajectory. Since the mixed layer is relatively shallow in the North Pacific, the vertical pumping term is very close to the Ekman pumping, while the sloping mixed layer base enhances subduction, especially near the Kuroshio Extension. For most of the subtropical North Pacific, the subduction rate is no more than 75 m yr−1, slightly larger than the Ekman pumping. The water mass volume and total amount of ventilation integrated for each interval of 0.2σ unit is computed. The corre...