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The Luzon Strait transport (LST) from the Pacific into the South China Sea (SCS) is examined using results from a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. The LST from the model has a mean value of 2.4 Sv (Sv ϵ 10 6 m 3 s Ϫ1) and reaches its seasonal maximum (6.1 Sv westward) in winter and seasonal minimum (0.9 Sv eastward) in summer. Both the annual mean and seasonal variation of LST compare favorably with earlier observations. On an interannual time scale, LST tends to be higher during El Niño years and lower during La Niña years, with its maximum (minimum) leading the mature phase of El Niño (La Niña) by 1 month. The interannual variation of LST appears to be oppositely phased with the Kuroshio transport east of Luzon, indicating a possible nonlinear hysteresis of the Kuroshio as a driving mechanism of LST. For the annual average, water leaving the SCS in the south is of higher temperature than that with LST, thus producing a cooling advection in the upper 405 m equivalent to a surface heat flux of Ϫ19 W m Ϫ2. Most of this cooling advection is balanced by the atmospheric heating (17 W m Ϫ2). From late spring to early fall, surface heat flux is the primary heating process; only a small part of the heat content change can be explained by heat advection. But, in winter, heat advection seems to be the only important process responsible for the cooling in the upper layer of the SCS. The interannual variation of the upper-layer heat content has a strong signature of ENSO, cooling in the development of El Niño and warming in the development of La Niña. An oceanic connection is revealed, in which LST seems to be a key process conveying the impact of the Pacific ENSO into the SCS.

We compared the 13 models participating in the Ocean Carbon Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP) with regards to their skill in matching observed distributions of CFC-11. This analysis characterizes the abilities of these models to ventilate the ocean on timescales relevant for anthropogenic CO uptake. We found a large range in the modeled global inventory (AE30%), mainly due to differences in ventilation from the high latitudes. In the Southern Ocean, models differ particularly in the longitudinal distribution of the CFC uptake in the intermediate water, whereas the latitudinal distribution is mainly controlled by the subgrid-scale parameterization. Models with isopycnal diffusion and eddy-induced velocity parameterization produce more realistic intermediate water ventilation. Deep and bottom water ventilation also varies substantially between the models. Models coupled to a sea-ice model systematically provide more realistic AABW formation source region; however these same models also largely overestimate AABW ventilation if no specific parameterization of brine rejection during sea-ice formation is included. In the North Pacific Ocean, all models exhibit a systematic large underestimation of the CFC uptake in the thermocline of the subtropical gyre, while no systematic difference toward the observations is found in the subpolar gyre. In the North Atlantic Ocean, the CFC uptake is globally underestimated in subsurface. In the deep ocean, all but the adjoint model, failed to produce the two recently ventilated branches observed in the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Furthermore, simulated transport in the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) is too sluggish in all but the isopycnal model, where it is too rapid. Ó

[1] The variation of the North Equatorial Current (NEC) bifurcation is investigated using results from a high-resolution ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The bifurcation occurs at about 15.5°N for the annual average and is easily identifiable in the upper 500 m, but it varies with time and depth. In agreement with recent observations, during the summer season the NEC bifurcation moves equatorward with a weak poleward shift with depth, while a large poleward movement with a poleward shift with depth is found during the winter season. Vertical mode decomposition indicates that the seasonal variation of the NEC bifurcation is dominated by the first two baroclinic modes. On the interannual timescale, the meridional migration of the NEC bifurcation is strongly influenced by El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO); its correlation with the Southern Oscillation Index exceeds 0.8 in magnitude at depths around the thermocline. The NEC bifurcation occurs at its northernmost position during El Niño years and at its southernmost position during La Niña years. This variation is mainly accounted for by westward propagation of upwelling (downwelling) Rossby waves generated by winds in the central equatorial Pacific and by an anomalous anticyclone (cyclone) located in the western North Pacific when a warm (cold) event matures. The interannual variability of the NEC transport is highly correlated with that of the Mindanao Current (MC) and the Kuroshio transports. It is also found that the interannual variability of the NEC bifurcation latitude is highly correlated with the variations of transports in the NEC and the Kuroshio, but is less correlated with transport variations in the MC.

[1] A suite of standard ocean hydrographic and circulation metrics are applied to the equilibrium physical solutions from 13 global carbon models participating in phase 2 of the Ocean Carbon-cycle Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP-2). Model-data comparisons are presented for sea surface temperature and salinity, seasonal mixed layer depth, meridional heat and freshwater transport, 3-D hydrographic fields, and meridional overturning. Considerable variation exists among the OCMIP-2 simulations, with some of the solutions falling noticeably outside available observational constraints. For some cases, model-model and model-data differences can be related to variations in surface forcing, subgrid-scale parameterizations, and model architecture. These errors in the physical metrics point to significant problems in the underlying model representations of ocean transport and dynamics, problems that directly affect the OCMIP predicted ocean tracer and carbon cycle variables (e.g., air-sea CO 2 flux, chlorofluorocarbon and anthropogenic CO 2 uptake, and export production). A substantial fraction of the large model-model ranges in OCMIP-2 biogeochemical fields (±25-40%) represents the propagation of known errors in model physics. Therefore the model-model spread likely overstates the uncertainty in our current understanding of the ocean carbon system, particularly for transport-dominated fields such as the historical uptake of anthropogenic CO 2 . A full error assessment, however, would need to account for additional sources of uncertainty such as more complex biological-chemical-physical interactions, biases arising from poorly resolved or neglected physical processes, and climate change.