Is the wind stress forcing essential for the meridional overturning circulation?

Timmermann, A.;Goosse, Hugues
(2004) Geophysical Research Letters — Vol. 31, n° 4, p. L04303 (2004)

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Abstract
[ 1 ] We use a global couple d atm osphere-ocean sea-ice model of interm ediate complexity to demonstrate that wind- forcing i s a crucial element to sustain meridional overturning flow i n t he Atlantic. Neglecting wind-stress in our multi- century-lon g simulations leads to a complete shutdown of the conveyor belt ci r culation. This r esult may have tremendous impacts f or an assessment of the sensitivity of 2-d clima t e models which typicall y do not capture wind-driven gyres. It is argued that wind effects may be a key element in determining the f ate and length of a collapsed THC state. Possible paleo implications will be discussed
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Timmermann, A., & Goosse, H. (2004). Is the wind stress forcing essential for the meridional overturning circulation? Geophysical Research Letters, 31(4), L04303. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL018777 (Original work published 2004)