A Series of Zonal Jets Embedded in the Broad Zonal Flows in the Pacific Obtained in Eddy-Permitting Ocean General Circulation Models

Abstract

Abstract A series of zonal currents in the Pacific Ocean is investigated using eddy-permitting ocean general circulation models. The zonal currents in the subsurface are classified into two parts: one is a series of broad zonal flows that has the meridional pattern slanting poleward with increasing depth and the other is finescale zonal jets with the meridional scale of 3°–5° formed in each broad zonal flow. The basic pattern for the broad zonal flows is similar between the coarse-resolution model and the eddy-permitting model and is thought to be the response to the wind forcing. A part of the zonal jets embedded in each zonal flow is explained by the anomalous local wind forcing. Most of them, however, seem to be mainly created by the rectification of turbulent processes on a β plane (the Rhines effect), and zonal jets in this study have common features with the zonally elongated flows obtained in previous modeling studies conducted in idealized basins. The position of zonal jets is not stable when the ocean floor is flat, whereas it oscillates only within a few degrees under realistic bottom topography.