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Article Type:
Research Article

Tides and the Climate: Some Speculations

Walter Munk1 and Bruce Bills2
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  • 1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
  • | 2 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Print Publication:
01 Feb 2007
Collections:
In Honor of Carl Wunsch
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO3002.1
Page(s):
135–147
Restricted access

Abstract

The important role of tides in the mixing of the pelagic oceans has been established by recent experiments and analyses. The tide potential is modulated by long-period orbital modulations. Previously, Loder and Garrett found evidence for the 18.6-yr lunar nodal cycle in the sea surface temperatures of shallow seas. In this paper, the possible role of the 41 000-yr variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic is considered. The obliquity modulation of tidal mixing by a few percent and the associated modulation in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) may play a role comparable to the obliquity modulation of the incoming solar radiation (insolation), a cornerstone of the Milanković theory of ice ages. This speculation involves even more than the usual number of uncertainties found in climate speculations.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Walter Munk, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., Mail Code 0225, La Jolla, CA 92093-0225. Email: wmunk@ucsd.edu

This article included in the In Honor of Carl Wunsch special collection.

Abstract

The important role of tides in the mixing of the pelagic oceans has been established by recent experiments and analyses. The tide potential is modulated by long-period orbital modulations. Previously, Loder and Garrett found evidence for the 18.6-yr lunar nodal cycle in the sea surface temperatures of shallow seas. In this paper, the possible role of the 41 000-yr variation of the obliquity of the ecliptic is considered. The obliquity modulation of tidal mixing by a few percent and the associated modulation in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) may play a role comparable to the obliquity modulation of the incoming solar radiation (insolation), a cornerstone of the Milanković theory of ice ages. This speculation involves even more than the usual number of uncertainties found in climate speculations.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Walter Munk, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., Mail Code 0225, La Jolla, CA 92093-0225. Email: wmunk@ucsd.edu

This article included in the In Honor of Carl Wunsch special collection.

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