Application of continuation methods in physical oceanography

Abstract

A specific example will be considered in which continuation methods are used to study fundamental problems in physical oceanography.The separation be- havior of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic is a long standing problem in dynamical oceanography,with state-of-the-art ocean models still having trouble to simulate to correct mean path.Bifurcation analysis in simplified models,as used here,points to one of difficulties involved:there may be two separation paths at the same forcing conditions.By studying the stability of steady North Atlantic ocean circulation patterns,also transitions to time-dependence are found which are linked to specific low frequency variability in the Gulf Stream region.