Propagation of Meridional Circulation Anomalies along Western and Eastern Boundaries

Abstract

Abstract Motivated by the adjustment of the meridional overturning circulation to localized forcing, solutions are presented from a reduced-gravity model for the propagation of waves along western and eastern boundaries. For wave periods exceeding a few months, Kelvin waves play no role. Instead, propagation occurs through short and long Rossby waves at the western and eastern boundaries, respectively: these Rossby waves propagate zonally, as predicted by classical theory, and cyclonically along the basin boundaries to satisfy the no-normal flow boundary condition. The along-boundary propagation speed is cLd/δ, where c is the internal gravity/Kelvin wave speed, Ld is the Rossby deformation radius, and δ is the appropriate frictional boundary layer width. This result holds across a wide range of parameter regimes, with either linear friction or lateral viscosity and a no-slip boundary condition. For parameters typical of contemporary ocean climate models, the propagation speed is coincidentally close to the Kelvin wave speed. In the limit of weak dissipation, the western boundary wave dissipates virtually all of its energy as it propagates toward the equator, independent of the dissipation coefficient. In contrast, virtually no energy is dissipated in the eastern boundary wave. The importance of background mean flows is also discussed.