Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 46, Issue 23, Pages 13910-13919Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2019GL085097
Keywords
residence time; coastal geometry and processes; global ocean models; coast-ocean exchanges
Categories
Funding
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce [NA14OAR4320106]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Exchanges between coastal and oceanic waters shape both coastal ecosystem processes and signatures that they impart on global biogeochemical cycles. The timescales of these exchanges, however, are poorly represented in current-generation, coarse-grid climate models. Here we provide a novel global perspective on coastal residence time (CRT) and its spatio-temporal variability using a new age tracer implemented in global ocean models. Simulated CRTs range widely from several days in narrow boundary currents to multiple years on broader shelves and in semi-enclosed seas, in agreement with available observations. Overall, CRT is better characterized in high-resolution models (1/8 degrees and 1/4 degrees) than in the coarser (1 degrees and 1/2 degrees) versions. This is in large part because coastal and open ocean grid cells are more directly connected in coarse models, prone to erroneous coastal flushing and an underestimated CRT. Additionally, we find that geometric enclosure of a coastal system places an important constraint on CRT.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available