High-resolution ROMS model forced by VIKING20: First results for Rockall Bank and Condor Seamount

ATLAS work package 2 presentation at ATLAS 3rd General Assembly.

As part of WP2, an integrated high-resolution hydrodynamic ocean circulation model (ROMS – Regional Ocean Modelling System) will be developed to investigate physical controls of organic matter transport in two ATLAS case study areas (Rockall Bank, Condor Seamount). The main aim is to identify and quantify hydrodynamic controls of organic matter supply to benthic ecosystems, as well as ecosystem response to changing states of the AMOC. The case study area models were forced with temperatures, salinities and currents from the basin-scale VIKING20 model for two different reference periods (1978-1980, 1992-1994) representing different states of the AMOC. We present model results of the Rockall Bank case study area and first results from the Condor seamount simulations. We analysed spatial and temporal patterns of water mass properties and currents, as well as the relative importance of tidally generated flow dynamics for food supply and material transport in comparison to changes caused by different states of the AMOC.