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Chandler wobble and pole tide in relation to interannual atmosphere-ocean dynamics

  • Ocean Tides And Related Phenomena
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Tidal Phenomena

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences ((LNEARTH,volume 66))

Abstract

Since the discovery of the Chandler wobble in polar motion more than a century ago, the cause of the wobble remained obscure. As long as one assumes the observed wobble to be a free damped mode of the rotating Earth, a reoccurring excitation of the wobble has to be assumed likewise. Neither the cause and mechanism of this excitation nor the damping of the wobble have satisfactorily been explained. Furthermore, the analyses of polar motion data under the above assumption lead to contradictory results, namely (1) a multi-frequency or a single frequency wobble, (2) an amplitude-dependent frequency, (3) a large diversity of Q-values.

A detailed study of polar motion, oceanographic, and meteorological data gave rise to the hypothesis that the observed wobble in fact is a forced oscillation, with a slightly variable forcing frequency. The consequences of this hypothesis are discussed. A possible forcing mechanism is found in a large-scale, quasi-periodic variation in air pressure within the Chandler band. This fourteen-to-sixteen months atmospheric fluctuation is responsible for most of the oceanic pole tide hitherto attributed to the Chandler wobble, and it is the most prominent candidate for forcing the observed wobble.

Regarding the observed Chandler wobble as a forced resonant phenomenon and not as a purely free wobble raises the question of the true Chandler period and the wobble Q. However, the determination of both, period and Q, is strongly limited by the amount of available data and the still unknown amplitude of the forcing function.

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  1. Institut für Geophysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24118, Kiel, Germany

    Hans-Peter Plag

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Helmut Wilhelm Walter Zürn Hans-Georg Wenzel

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Plag, HP. (1997). Chandler wobble and pole tide in relation to interannual atmosphere-ocean dynamics. In: Wilhelm, H., Zürn, W., Wenzel, HG. (eds) Tidal Phenomena. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 66. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0011463

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0011463

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