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- Title
The riddle of eastern tropical Pacific Ocean oxygen levels: the role of the supply by intermediate-depth waters.
- Authors
Duteil, Olaf; Frenger, Ivy; Getzlaff, Julia
- Abstract
Observed oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the tropical Pacific Ocean are located above intermediate-depth waters (IDWs), defined here as the 500–1500 m water layer. Typical climate models do not represent IDW properties well and are characterized by OMZs that are too deep-reaching. We analyze the role of the IDW in the misrepresentation of oxygen levels in a heterogeneous subset of ocean models characterized by a horizontal resolution ranging from 0.1 to 2.8 ∘. First, we show that forcing the extratropical boundaries (30 ∘ S and N) to observed oxygen values results in a significant increase in oxygen levels in the intermediate eastern tropical region. Second, we highlight the fact that the Equatorial Intermediate Current System (EICS) is a key feature connecting the western and eastern part of the basin. Typical climate models lack in representing crucial aspects of this supply at intermediate depth, as the EICS is basically absent in models characterized by a resolution lower than 0.25 ∘. These two aspects add up to a "cascade of biases" that hampers the correct representation of oxygen levels at intermediate depth in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and potentially future OMZ projections.
- Subjects
WATER supply; OCEAN; OXYGEN; ATMOSPHERIC models
- Publication
Ocean Science, 2021, Vol 17, Issue 5, p1489
- ISSN
1812-0784
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/os-17-1489-2021