The Amplified Glacial Arctic Tide Regime – Sensitivities and Feedback on the Atlantic Ocean

Roman Sulzbach a Section 1.3: Earth System Modelling, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
c Institute of Meteorology, Freie Universität Berlin, Carl-Heinrich-Becker-Weg 6-10, D-12165 Berlin, Germany

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Meike Bagge a Section 1.3: Earth System Modelling, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
d now at: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Stilleweg 2, D-30655 Hannover, Germany

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Michael Schindelegger b Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Nußallee 17A, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

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Volker Klemann a Section 1.3: Earth System Modelling, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany

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Abstract

Numerical tide simulations for the Arctic Ocean under glacial conditions imply a macro- to megatidal regime in contrast to its present-day microtidal regime. Applying a barotropic ocean tide model, we study the sensitivity of this regime change driven by the semidiurnal M2 tide to a set of modeling parameters. We find that the near-resonant tidal oscillation system is sensitive to changes in the paleo bathymetry due to glacial isostatic adjustment, as well as to the effect of ocean self-attraction and loading, resulting in an amplification of the dominantM2 tide by a factor of up to four. Furthermore, the modeling framework is used to investigate the back-effect of the Arctic resonance on the world oceans. This feedback contributes +289 GWof internal wave dissipation (13% of the global figure). The results are contextualized by an analytical model of cylindrical symmetry. This model illustrates the driving mechanism for the amplified glacial Arctic tide regime as an interplay of shelf- and deep-ocean-resonance at semidiurnal frequencies.

© 2025 American Meteorological Society. This is an Author Accepted Manuscript distributed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).

Corresponding author: Roman Sulzbach, sulzbach@gfz-potsdam.de

Abstract

Numerical tide simulations for the Arctic Ocean under glacial conditions imply a macro- to megatidal regime in contrast to its present-day microtidal regime. Applying a barotropic ocean tide model, we study the sensitivity of this regime change driven by the semidiurnal M2 tide to a set of modeling parameters. We find that the near-resonant tidal oscillation system is sensitive to changes in the paleo bathymetry due to glacial isostatic adjustment, as well as to the effect of ocean self-attraction and loading, resulting in an amplification of the dominantM2 tide by a factor of up to four. Furthermore, the modeling framework is used to investigate the back-effect of the Arctic resonance on the world oceans. This feedback contributes +289 GWof internal wave dissipation (13% of the global figure). The results are contextualized by an analytical model of cylindrical symmetry. This model illustrates the driving mechanism for the amplified glacial Arctic tide regime as an interplay of shelf- and deep-ocean-resonance at semidiurnal frequencies.

© 2025 American Meteorological Society. This is an Author Accepted Manuscript distributed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).

Corresponding author: Roman Sulzbach, sulzbach@gfz-potsdam.de
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