Water isotope variations in the global ocean model MPI-OM

Type Article
Date 2012
Language English
Author(s) Xu X.1, Werner M.1, Butzin M.1, 2, Lohmann G.1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Alfred Wegener Inst Polar & Marine Res, Bremerhaven, Germany.
2 : Univ Bremen, MARUM Ctr Marine Environm Sci, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
Source Geoscientific Model Development (1991-959X) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2012 , Vol. 5 , N. 3 , P. 809-818
DOI 10.5194/gmd-5-809-2012
WOS© Times Cited 30
Abstract The stable water isotopes (H2O)-O-18 and HDO are incorporated as passive tracers into the oceanic general circulation model MPI-OM, and a control simulation under present-day climate conditions is analyzed in detail. Both delta O-18 and delta D distributions at the ocean surface and deep ocean are generally consistent with available observations on the large scale. The modelled delta D-delta O-18 relations in surface waters slightly deviates from the slope of the global meteoric water line in most basins, and a much steeper slope is detected in Arctic Oceans. The simulated deuterium excess of ocean surface waters shows small variations between 80 degrees S and 55 degrees N, and a strong decrease north of 55 degrees N. The model is also able to capture the quasi-linear relationship between delta O-18 and salinity S, as well as delta D and S, as seen in observational data. Both in the model results and observations, the surface delta-S relations show a steeper slope in extra-tropical regions than in tropical regions, which indicates relatively more addition of isotopically depleted water at high latitudes.
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