Relation Between Equatorial Oceanic Activities and LOD Changes

Abstract

The time series of the length of day (LOD) and the observational Pacific sea level during l962.0-1990.0 are used to study the relation between Earth rotation and equatorial oceanic activities.The results show that (i) the sea level is apparently rising at an average rate of about 1.75±.01mm/a during the past 30 years,(ii) there are large-scale eastward and westward water motions in the upper equatorial Pacific zone,which,according to the dynamical analysis of the angular momentum of the large-scale sea water motion in Pacific Ocean related to the Earth rotation axis accounts for about 30% of the change in ititerannual Eatlh rotation rate; (iii) the interannual changes in Earth rotation also cause changes in the distribution of the water mass in equatorial Pacific,and affect the formation of ENSO events.Based on these results,we give a new model for the interaction between equatorial ocean and Earth rotation.