In the modern ocean, the transformation of light surface waters to dense deep waters primarily occurs in the Atlantic basin rather than in the North Pacific or Southern Oceans. The reasons for this remain unclear, as both models and paleoclimatic observations suggest that sinking can sometimes occur in the Pacific. We present a six-box model of overturning that combines insights from a number of previous studies. A key determinant of the overturning configuration in our model is whether the Antarctic Intermediate Waters are denser than the northern subpolar waters, something that de-pends on the magnitude and configuration of atmospheric freshwater transport. For the modern ocean, we find that al-though the interbasin atmospheric freshwater flux suppresses Pacific sinking, the poleward atmospheric freshwater flux out of the subtropics enhances it. When atmospheric temperatures are held fixed, North Pacific overturning can strengthen with either increases or decreases in the hydrological cycle, as well as under reversal of the interbasin freshwater flux. Tipping-point behavior, where small changes in the hydrological cycle may cause the dominant location of densification of light waters to switch between basins and the magnitude of overturning within a basin to exhibit large jumps, is seen in both transient and equilibrium states. This behavior is modulated by parameters such as the poorly constrained lateral dif-fusive mixing coefficient. If hydrological cycle amplitude is varied consistently with global temperature, northern polar amplification is necessary for the Atlantic overturning to collapse. Certain qualitative insights incorporated in the model can be validated using a fully coupled climate model.

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The current configuration of the ocean overturning involves upwelling predominantly in the Southern Ocean and sinking predominantly in the Atlantic basin. The reasons for this remain unclear, as both models and paleoclimatic observations suggest that sinking can sometimes occur in the Pacific. We present a six-box model of the overturning in which temperature, salinity and low-latitude pycnocline depths are allowed to vary prognostically in both the Atlantic and Pacific. The overturning is driven by temperature, winds, and mixing and modulated by the hydrological cycle. In each basin there are three possible flow regimes, depending on whether low-latitude water flowing into northern surface boxes is transformed into dense deep water, somewhat lighter intermediate water, or light water that is returned at the surface. The resulting model combines insights from a number of previous studies and allows for nine possible global flow regimes. For the modern ocean, we find that although the interbasin atmospheric freshwater flux suppresses Pacific sinking, the equator-to-pole flux enhances it. When atmospheric temperatures are held fixed, seven possible flow regimes can be accessed by changing the amplitude and configuration of the modern hydrological cycle . North Pacific overturning can strengthen with either increases or decreases in the hydrological cycle, as well as under reversal of the interbasin freshwater flux. Tipping-point behavior of both transient and equilibrium states is modulated by parameters such as the poorly constrained lateral diffusive mixing. If hydrological cycle amplitude is varied consistently with global temperature, northern polar amplification is necessary for the Atlantic overturning to collapse.@en