18 Mar 2026
| 18 Mar 2026
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD).
WCD Ideas: Hydrologically Driven Throughflow in the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere System
Abstract. Potential flow theory predicts bulk fluid motion driven by spatially separated sources and sinks of mass. In the atmosphere, such exchanges are dominated by the hydrological cycle: subtropical sources of water vapour combine with equatorial and high-latitude sinks to induce meridional source–sink flows in each hemisphere. Conventional gas-phase frameworks that represent mean meridional circulations as purely cellular neglect these throughflows. Here, these flows are identified as atmospheric branches of coupled ocean–atmosphere circulations termed Latent cells. Evidence from inert tracers indicates that they conduct significant large-scale mass transport, and they may influence atmospheric momentum budgets.
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