Bjornsson, H., and J. R. Toggweiler, 2001: The climatic influence of Drake Passage. In The Oceans and Rapid Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future, Geophysical Monograph 126, Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 243-259.

Abstract: The influence of Drake Passage on the earth's temperature distribution is explored in an idealized coupled model. In a version of the model without Drake Passage the temperature distribution is symmetric about the equator, due in large part to the fact that the meridional overturning in the ocean is symmetric about the equator with deep water formation in both hemispheres. With Drake Passage open, the overturning takes on the form of an interhemispheric conveyor with deep water formation primarily in the opposite (northern) hemisphere. Surface temperatures rise in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere as the ocean transports a large amount of heat northward across the equator. The magnitude of the thermal asymmetry between the hemispheres depends on the depth of the circumpolar channel and the strength of the winds over the channel. The opening of Drake Passage also leads to the formation of a low-salinity intermediate water mass reminiscent of Antarctic Intermediate Water. The intermediate water mass is associated with a warming and thickening of the thermocline that extends from the circumpolar channel into the highest latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Paleoclimatic implications of this work are discussed.