FW: SEMINAR: MAC Seminar: Dr. J. Robbie Toggweiler on September 7, at 10:30 a.m., SLAB Seminar Room

[Erica Calderon <ecalderon@rsmas.miami.edu>]

University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

MAC Seminar

 

Dr. J. Robbie Toggweiler

NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton

 

“A New Constraint on the Atlantic’s Meridional Overturning Circulation” 

Room: SLAB Seminar Room 

Date: Friday, September 7, at 10:30AM-11:30AM

 

*Please note that Dr. Toggweiler will be a part of the committee attending Corinne Hartin's PhD defense at 2:30pm in the  SLAB seminar room.

Abstract

Subantarctic water is carried into the South Atlantic as part of the Atlantic’s Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Here, a set of Δ14C maps is constructed to show where and how the inflow comes up to the surface. The maps show that the inflow is brought up to the surface in two places, in the coastal upwelling zones off northern and southern Africa, and in the western part of the subpolar gyre in the North Atlantic. The portion brought up to the surface off Africa flows into the Caribbean Sea, northward through the Florida Straits, and eventually reaches the Nordic Seas. The maps are then compared with an equivalent set of maps generated by a modern ocean circulation model. The model does not resolve the coastal upwelling zones very well and indeed the northward flow of the AMOC in the model does not reach the surface until it crosses 35°N. These findings have important implications. Most generally, they seem to show that the portion of the AMOC converted into overflow waters north of Iceland is routed through the coastal upwelling zones off northern and southern Africa. The entire northward flow of the AMOC also seems to be sourced from relatively cold sub-thermocline water.


Biographical Sketch

Dr. Toggweiler is a native Miamian who graduated from Miami Springs Sr. HS in 1971. He then moved to NYC where he graduated from Columbia in 1975 with a major in Chemical Physics. He remained at Columbia for his PhD which he received in 1983 under the supervision of Wally Broecker.After a post-doc at Princeton University he transferred over to GFDL and has worked there ever since. Dr Toggweiler is author of over 75 papers, and was recognized for his contributions by being elected an AGU Fellow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erica Calderon
Administrative Assistant
Marine & Atmospheric Chemistry/Marine Geology & Geophysics
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway

N Grovs 353/SLAB 212
Miami, FL 33149
(305)421-4662/(305)421-4192

Fax: (305) 421-4632
ecalderon@rsmas.miami.edu

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/academics/divisions/marine-atmospheric-chemistry
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/academics/divisions/marine-geology-geophysics