Vortex stretching and bottom torques in the Bryan-Cox ocean circulation model

After 3 months of integration the barotropic stream functions in the 1 degrees global versions of the Bryan-Cox ocean models [Bryan, 1969; Cox, 1984] run at the U. K. Meteorological Office have weaker recirculations to the north and south of the Gulf Stream than are believed to exist and than are obtained in some diagnostic models of comparable resolution. Diagnostics of the contributions to the rate of change of the vorticity of the vertically meaned and vertically integrated currents in the third month of a model integration are presented. Those for the vertically integrated current show that the main patterns of northward advection of planetary vorticity are accounted for by the bottom pressure torque and viscous torque; the contributions from the curl of the wind stress and nonlinear advection are comparatively small. Using this result, a new relationship is derived between the bottom pressure torque in the model and the vortex stretching at the top of the steps in the bathymetry. Diagnostic calculations of the contributions to the stream function driven by each of the torques suggest two alternative interpretations of the weakness of the northern recirculation gyre and the poor separation of the Gulf Stream at Cape Hatteras in the model. One is based on the difference between the vortex stretching and bottom pressure torque in the model, the other on the flow driven by the viscous torque on the fluid interior (i.e., on grid cells that are not adjacent to bathymetric steps). The main changes to the patterns of these diagnostics after 10 years of integration are summarized.