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Watermass transformation in marginal seas
Waters formed at high latitudes have distinct
water mass characteristics that can be traced throughout the worlds
oceans. This water mass transformation and transport is a fundamental
component of the oceanic thermohaline circulation and plays an
important role in the global climate system. I am interested in
several aspects of how these waters are formed, where they sink,
and how they are transported away from their formation regions.
I am also interested in how the thermohaline circulation interacts
with the wind-driven circulation, both at mid-latitudes and at
high latitudes.
I have found that the dominant component of the downwelling limb of
the thermohaline circulation takes place very close to lateral
boundaries and steep topography. I have been using analytic models,
simple scaling ideas, and general circulation modelling studies
to understand and quantify the amplitude of boundary sinking and
demonstrate its importance relative to large-scale interior downwelling
and eddy-driven downwelling in a subpolar gyre.
This work has been generously supported through grants from the
National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
Recent manuscripts on these subjects - click
on PDF icon or author name to download

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Spall, M. A., 2012:Influences of precipitation on water mass transformation
and deep convection. J. Phys. Oceanogr, in press.
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Vage, K., R. S. Pickart, M. A. Spall, H. Valdimarsson,
S. Jonsson, D. J. Torres, S. Osterhus, T. Eldevik, 2011: Formation of Denmark Strait
overflow water via boundary currents and transformation in the central Iceland Sea,
Nature Geosciences,DOI:10.1030/NGEO1234
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Spall, M. A., 2011:On the role of eddies and surface forcing in
the heat transport and overturning circulation in marginals seas. J. Climate,
24, 4844-4858.
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Spall, M. A., 2010:
Dynamics of downwelling in an eddy-resolving convective basin. J. Phys. Oceanogr.,
40,2341-2347
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Spall, M. A., 2010:
Non-local topographic influences on deep convection: An idealized model for the
Nordic Seas. Ocean Modell., 32, 72-85, doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2009.10.009
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Spall, M. A., 2008:
Buoyancy-forced downwelling in boundary currents.
J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 2704-2721
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Spall, M. A., 2008:
Low-frequency interaction between horizontal and overturning gyres in the ocean
Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L18614, doi:10.1029/2008GL035206
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Spall, M. A., 2008:
Buoyancy-forced downwelling in boundary currents.
J. Phys. Oceanogr., in press.
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Spall, M. A., 2007 Circulation and water mass
transformation in a model of the Chukchi Sea. J. Geophys. Res. ., 112,
C05025,doi:10.1029/2005JC002264
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Pickart, R. S. and M. A. Spall, 2007. Impact of Labrador Sea convection
on the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 37, 2207-2227.
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Pedlosky, J. and M. A. Spall, 2005. Boundary intensification of vertical
velocity in a beta-plane basin. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 35, 2487-2500.
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Spall, M. A., 2005. Buoyancy-forced circulations in shallow marginal
seas. J. Mar. Res. 63, 729-752.
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Spall, M. A., 2004. Boundary currents and
water mass transformation in marginal seas.
Journal of Physical Oceanography 34, 1197-1213. |
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Katsman, C. A., M. A. Spall, R. S. Pickart,
2003. Boundary current eddies and their role in the restratification
of the Labrador Sea. submitted to: Journal of Physical
Oceanography. |
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Pickart, R. S., M. A. Spall, M. H. Ribergaard,
G. W. K. Moore, and R. F. Milliff, 2003. Convection east of
Greenland: Atmospheric forcing and oceanic response. Nature,
424,152-156 |
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Spall, Michael A., R. S. Pickart, 2003. Wind-driven
recirculations and exchange in the Labrador and Irminger Seas.
Journal of Physical Oceanography, 33,1829-1845 |
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Spall, Michael A., 2003. On the thermohaline
circulation in flat bottom marginal seas. Journal of Marine
Research, 61, 1-25 |
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Spall, Michael A., 2002. Wind- and buoyancy-forced
upper ocean circulation in two-strait marginal seas with application
to the Japan / East Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research,
107(C1), 6.1-6.12. |
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Spall, Michael A., R. S. Pickart, 2001.
Where does dense water sink? A subpolar gyre example. Journal
of Physical Oceanography, 31(3), 810-825. |
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Joyce, Terrence M., Clara Deser and Michael
A. Spall, 2000. On the relation between decadal variability
of Subtropical Mode Water and the North Atlantic Oscillation.
Journal of Climate, 13(14), 2550-2569. |
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Spall, Michael A., 1999. A simple model
of the large scale circulation of Mediterranean water and
Labrador Sea water. Deep Sea Research II, 46,
181-204. |
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Spall, Michael A., and James F. Price,
1998. Mesoscale variability in Denmark Strait: the PV outflow
hypothesis. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 28(8),
1598-1623. |
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Pickart, Robert S., Michael A. Spall and
J. R. N. Lazier, 1997. Mid-depth ventilation in the western
boundary current system of the subpolar gyre. Deep-Sea
Research, 44(6), 1025-1054. |
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