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The circulation in the equatorial Pacific Ocean is studied in a series of numerical experiments based on an isopycnal coordinate model. The model is subject to monthly mean climatology of wind stress and surface thermohaline forcing. In response to decadal variability in the diapycnal mixing coefficient, sea surface temperature and other properties of the circulation system oscillate periodically. The strongest sea surface temperature anomaly appears in the geographic location of Niño-3 region with the amplitude on the order of 0.5°C, if the model is subject to a 30-yr sinusoidal oscillation in diapycnal mixing coefficient that varies between 0.03 × 10-4 and 0.27 × 10-4 m2 s-1. Changes in diapycnal mixing coefficient of this amplitude are within the bulk range consistent with the external mechanical energy input in the global ocean, especially when considering the great changes of tropical cyclones during the past decades. Thus, time-varying diapycnal mixing associated with changes in wind energy input into the ocean may play a nonnegligible role in decadal climate variability in the equatorial circulation and climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method based on isopycnal trajectory analysis is proposed to quantify the pathways from the subtropics to the Tropics. For a continuous stratified ocean a virtual streamfunction is defined, which can be used to characterize these pathways. This method is applied to the climatological dataset produced from a data-assimilated model. Analysis indicates that in each layer contours of the virtual streamfunction are a good approximation for streamlines, even if there is a cross-isopycnal mass flux. The zonal-integrated meridional transport per unit layer thickness through each pathway varies in proportion to 1/sinθ, where θ is latitude. The vertical-integrated total transport through pathways behaves similarly. Transport through pathways has a prominent decadal variability. Results suggest that in decadal time scales the interior pathway transport (IPT) anomaly may be mainly caused by the wind stress anomaly at low latitude. The western boundary pathway transport (WBPT) anomaly often has a sign opposite to the IPT anomaly, reflecting compensation between the IPT and the WBPT. However, more often than not the wind stress anomaly within tropical latitudes can also be used to explain the WBPT anomaly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]