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Multiple Equilibria and Stability of the North-Atlantic Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation

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Numerical Methods for Bifurcation Problems and Large-Scale Dynamical Systems

Part of the book series: The IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications ((IMA,volume 119))

Abstract

The large scale ocean circulation is an important component of the global climate system and controls much of its low frequency variability. Evidence is growing that different mean circulation patterns in the North-Atlantic ocean are possible under the same forcing conditions. In this paper, the question of multiple equilibria is considered within an idealized finite element ocean model of the wind-driven ocean circulation in the North-Atlantic. Using pseudo-arclength continuation, branches of steady states are followed in parameter space and their stability is determined by solving the associated linear stability problem. An overview of the numerical methods to handle the large dimensional dynamical systems and their implementation (our code BAGELS) is given. Multiple circulation patterns are found and their existence is shown to be related to internal ocean dynamics rather than to the particular continental geometry. Temporal variability of the flows on intra seasonal time scales is shown to be related to only a small set of eigenmodes to which the steady flows are unstable.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Utrecht, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    M. Jeroen Molemaker & Henk A. Dijkstra

Authors
  1. M. Jeroen Molemaker
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  2. Henk A. Dijkstra
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Math 217-50, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    Eusebius Doedel

  2. Laboratoire d’Informatique pour la Mécanique et les Sciences de l’Ingénieur (LIMSI), B.P. 133, 91403, Orsay, France

    Laurette S. Tuckerman

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Molemaker, M.J., Dijkstra, H.A. (2000). Multiple Equilibria and Stability of the North-Atlantic Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation. In: Doedel, E., Tuckerman, L.S. (eds) Numerical Methods for Bifurcation Problems and Large-Scale Dynamical Systems. The IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications, vol 119. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1208-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1208-9_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7044-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1208-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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