13 April 2026: Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics Colloquium

When?  Monday 19 April 2026 at 11:00 h
Where?    Conference Room 5-1.214, Building 5, Wischhofstr. 1-3 and online
via Meeting link : https://geomar.webex.com/geomar-en/j.php?MTID=ma73a9dd4db0f5cb6275b471e1c5e6005

Abstract:

Mass loss from both the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheet have increased over the past decades and are projected to accelerate under continued global warming. Beyond contributing to global sea level rise, the associated freshwater released into the ocean affects water mass transformation and ocean circulation. Most prominently, model simulations of various complexity suggest reduced production of North Atlantic Deep water and Antarctic Bottom Water, both important components of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

In this presentation I will provide a brief reminder of the original purpose of so-called hosing experiments, the range of freshwater forcings applied these days, and the lack of land ice–ocean coupling in climate models being a critical shortcoming. We will then take a look at simulations from the Southern Ocean Freshwater Input From Antarctica (SOFIA) initiative for demonstrating the need for (multi-model) ensembles to address impacts by internal variability and model uncertainty. Non-eddying, eddying and eddy-rich simulations of the subpolar North Atlantic will serve to highlight the important role of mesoscale dynamics in redistributing the freshwater from its coastal source to regions of impact—allowing similar conclusions for the Southern Ocean, especially the Antarctic Slope Current. In all these examples, open ocean deep convection in the Weddell Sea and the Labrador as well as Irminger Sea will take a central, connecting role.

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