The North Atlantic Deep Water surfaces in the Southern Ocean and is modified by surface fluxes to become Antarctic Bottom Water (sinking to the ocean floor) and Antarctic Intermediate water (flowing north at about 700m depth). You might want to use the figures of (potential) temperature and salinity to help you answer the following question:

Which of these currents does not contribute to the northward heat transport happening in the Thermohaline circulation?

Question

The North Atlantic Deep Water surfaces in the Southern Ocean and is modified by surface fluxes to become Antarctic Bottom Water (sinking to the ocean floor) and Antarctic Intermediate water (flowing north at about 700m depth). You might want to use the figures of (potential) temperature and salinity to help you answer the following question:

Which of these currents does not contribute to the northward heat transport happening in the Thermohaline circulation?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks us to identify which current does not contribute to the northward heat transport in the Thermohaline circulation.
Option 1: Antarctic Intermediate Water. This layer flows northward at around 700 m depth and moves heat from the Southern Ocean into the higher latitude regions of the Atlantic, contributing to the northward heat transport. It participates in the overturning circulation by redistributing relatively warmer water at mid-depth toward the north, so this current does indeed contribute to the heat transport.
Option 2: Antarctic Bottom Water. AABW forms near Antarctica from very cold, saline waters that sink to the ocean floor, spreading along the abyssal plains. Because it resides at great depths and its main movement is vertical sinking and lateral spreading along the bottom rather than transporting heat upward toward the north, its direct role in carrying heat northward is minimal. While it impacts global ocean structure and contributes to nutrient and carbon transport, its horizontal heat transport toward higher latitudes is negligible compared with shallower and mid-depth currents, so it does not contribute significantly to the northward heat transport in the thermohaline system.
In terms of the physics, consider that heat transport by ocean currents is largely achieved by warmer water moving poleward at intermediate depths (like Antarctic Intermediate Water), whereas very bottom waters like Antarctic Bottom Water are cold and dense and tend to move mass without a substantial northward heat flux. Therefore, Antarctic Bottom Water is the one that does not contribute meaningfully to the northward heat transport in this context.

CLMTGR5001_002_2025_3 - Dynamics of Climate Variability and Chan PRACTICE QUIZ: Week 7 Lecture 3

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