Using a 200-year simulation of a fully-coupled climate system model to investigate the role of the continental runoff flux on the global climate system

A 200-year simulation was conducted using the NCAR/DOE PCM fully-coupled land-ocean-atmosphere-ice model. Ocean properties such as ocean sea surface salinity, sea surface temperature, and ocean currents have been shown to be sensitive to the timing, location, and magnitude of the continental runoff flux. Inclusion of a river routing algorithm is allowing the examination of further indirect effects these oceanic sensitivities are having on atmospheric properties such as the availability of ocean-evaporated atmospheric water vapor for advection back to the continents and global patterns of precipitation. Preliminary results also indicate the presence of a continental runoff feedback in some of the larger tropical watersheds such as the Amazon and Congo.