δCO2 measured in Antarctic ice cores provides constraints on oceanic and terrestrial carbon cycle processes linked with millennial-scale changes in atmospheric CO2. However, the interpretation of δCO2 is not straightforward. Using carbon isotope-enabled versions of the LOVECLIM and Bern3D models, we perform a set of sensitivity experiments in which the formation rates of North Atlantic Deep Wat...

Between ;750 and 635 million years ago, during the Neoproterozoic era, the earth experienced at least two significant, possibly global, glaciations, termed ‘‘Snowball Earth.’’ While many studies have focused on the dynamics and the role of the atmosphere and ice flow over the ocean in these events, only a few have investigated the related associated ocean circulation, and no study has examined ...

[1] Although the world ocean is known to be a major sink of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, the exact processes governing the magnitude and regional distribution of carbon uptake remain poorly understood. Here we show that Southern Hemisphere winds, by altering the Ekman volume transport out of the Southern Ocean, strongly control the regional distribution of anthropogenic uptake in an ocean gene...

The adjoint of an ocean general circulation model is used as a tool for investigating the causes of changes in ENSO SST indices. We identify adjoint Kelvin and Rossby waves in the sensitivities to sea level and wind stress at earlier times, which can be traced back for more than a year through western and weak eastern boundary reeections. Depending on the thermocline depth the rst and second ba...

An assessment on the scientific impact of random errors in wind direction (< 45°) retrieved from space-based observations under weak wind (< 7 m/s) conditions was made. Half of the winds over global oceans are below 7 m/s, in their long-term averages, and these weak winds cover most of the tropical, subtropical , and coastal oceans. Introduction of these errors in the semi-daily winds causes, o...

An ocean general circulation model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean is used to study the vertically integrated vorticity equation for the annual mean flow in the Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC). It is found that the nonlinear terms play an important role in the vorticity budget, in the western part of the basin. Sverdrup balance does not hold in the region of the North Brazil Curr...