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HOMOCLINIC BIFURCATION IN AN OCEAN CIRCULATION BOX MODEL

SVEN TITZ

Institut für Physik, Universität Potsdam, PF 601553, D-14415 Potsdam, Germany

Author for correspondence.

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TILL KUHLBRODT

Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, PF 601203, D-14412 Potsdam, Germany

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, and

ULRIKE FEUDEL

Institut für Chemie und Biologie des Meeres, Universität Oldenburg, PF 25 03, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218127402004759Cited by:17 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

The qualitative behavior of a conceptual ocean box model is investigated. It is a paradigmatic model of the thermohaline ocean circulation of the Atlantic. In a bifurcation study, the two occurring bifurcations, a saddle-node and a Hopf bifurcation, are computed analytically. Using normal form theory, it is shown that the latter bifurcation is always subcritical. The unstable periodic orbit emerging at the Hopf bifurcation vanishes in a homoclinic bifurcation. The results are interpreted with respect to the stability of the thermohaline circulation.

Keywords:

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