The Mechanistic Role of the Central American Seaway in a GFDL Earth System Model. Part 1: Impacts on Global Ocean Mean State and Circulation

To explore the mechanisms involved in the global ocean circulation response to the shoaling and closure of the Central American Seaway (CAS), we performed a suite of sensitivity experiments using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Earth System Model (ESM), GFDL‐ESM2G, varying only the seaway widths and sill depths. Changes in large‐scale transport, global ocean mean state, and deep ocean circulation in all simulations are driven by the...