Does the Timing of Freshwater Input Matter for Ocean Circulation?

Abstract information

In this video, Fraser Goldsworth investigates how freshwater released around Greenland mixes with saltier ocean waters and what this means for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Using high-resolution simulations with the ICON Earth System Model, he quantifies regional and seasonal patterns of diahaline mixing. He finds that mixing is strongest in winter and off southern Greenland, driven by surface cooling and modulated by sea ice. The results suggest that the timing and location of Greenland meltwater input influence how strongly it can interact with the AMOC, with implications for how freshwater “hosing” experiments are designed.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101245

Researcher

Fraser W. Goldsworth is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Climate Energetics group at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, working on the EU-funded EERIE project. His research focuses on high-resolution ocean–climate modelling, freshwater pathways around Greenland, AMOC stability, and ocean mixing processes. He completed his DPhil in Physical Oceanography at the University of Oxford, where he investigated symmetric instability in the Atlantic overturning circulation using very high-resolution simulations.

Institution information

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Original Publication

A novel framework for studying oceanic freshwater transports, and its application in discerning the modelled fate of freshwater around the coast of Greenland

Fraser William Goldsworth

Published in

Citation

Fraser Goldsworth, 

Latest Thinking, 

Does the Timing of Freshwater Input Matter for Ocean Circulation?, 

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101245, 

Credits:

© Fraser Goldsworth 

and Latest Thinking

This work is licensed under CC-BY 4.0