Jan Zika is an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He carries out fundamental research on the role of the ocean and water in the changing climate. He has led a team of researchers who used ocean observations to demonstrate that as the climate warms, wet parts of the globe are getting wetter and dry parts are getting dryer. His research has also helped to establish that the atmosphere is unlikely to become more energetic (windier overall) in a warming climate as having more water in the system makes the atmospheric heat engine less efficient.
After completing a PhD at CSIRO in Hobart Jan has worked at the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, the University of Southampton and Imperial College London and has been awarded both a National Environment Research Council Postdoctoral and Senior Fellowships. In 2018 Jan was awarded the Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award by the European Geosciences Union's Ocean Science Division and in 2020 he was awarded the Australian Academy of Science Anton Hales Medal.
School of Mathematics and Statistics
UNSW AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY NSW 2052
The Red Centre
Room 4074
Publications
Media
Grants
Awards
Research Activities
Engagement
Teaching and Supervision
Book Chapters | 2021
Zika J; de Lavergne C; Groeskamp S; Johnson H, 2021, 'The role of mixing in the large-scale ocean circulation', in Meredith M; Naveira Garabato A(ed.), Ocean Mixing Drivers, Mechanisms and Impacts, Elsevier, pp. 35 - 63, https://www.elsevier.com/books/ocean-mixing/meredith/978-0-12-821512-8
Journal articles | 2023
Bisits JI; Stanley GJ; Zika JD, 2023, 'Can We Accurately Quantify a Lateral Diffusivity from a Single Tracer Release?', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 53, pp. 647 - 659, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-22-0145.1
Journal articles | 2023
Boeira Dias F; Rintoul SR; Richter O; Galton-Fenzi BK; Zika JD; Pellichero V; Uotila P, 2023, 'Sensitivity of simulated water mass transformation on the Antarctic shelf to tides, topography and model resolution', Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1027704
Journal articles | 2023
Pudig MP; Yung CK; Zika JD; Holmes RM, 2023, 'Rectified Ocean Heat Uptake from Oscillatory Surface Forcing', Journal of Climate, 36, pp. 2663 - 2680, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0267.1
Journal articles | 2023
Sohail T; Holmes RM; Zika JD, 2023, 'Water-Mass Coordinates Isolate the Historical Ocean Warming Signal', Journal of Climate, 36, pp. 3063 - 3081, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0363.1
Journal articles | 2022
Cheng L; von Schuckmann K; Abraham JP; Trenberth KE; Mann ME; Zanna L; England MH; Zika JD; Fasullo JT; Yu Y; Pan Y; Zhu J; Newsom ER; Bronselaer B; Lin X, 2022, 'Past and future ocean warming', Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 3, pp. 776 - 794, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00345-1
Journal articles | 2022
Clément L; McDonagh EL; Gregory JM; Wu Q; Marzocchi A; Zika JD; Nurser AJG, 2022, 'Mechanisms of Ocean Heat Uptake along and across Isopycnals', Journal of Climate, 35, pp. 4885 - 4904, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0793.1
Journal articles | 2022
Holmes RM; Sohail T; Zika JD, 2022, 'Adiabatic and Diabatic Signatures of Ocean Temperature Variability', Journal of Climate, 35, pp. 1459 - 1477, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0695.1
Bladwell C; Holmes RM; Zika JD, 2021, 'Internal Salt Content: A Useful Framework for Understanding the Oceanic Branch of the Water Cycle', JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY, 51, pp. 2167 - 2179, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0212.1
Journal articles | 2021
Holmes RM; Zika JD; Griffies SM; Hogg AMC; Kiss AE; England MH, 2021, 'The Geography of Numerical Mixing in a Suite of Global Ocean Models', Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002333
Journal articles | 2021
Irving D; Hobbs W; Church J; Zika J, 2021, 'A Mass and Energy Conservation Analysis of Drift in the CMIP6 Ensemble', Journal of Climate, 34, pp. 3157 - 3170, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0281.1
Journal articles | 2021
Savita A; Zika JD; Domingues CM; Marsland SJ; Evans GD; Dias FB; Holmes RM; Hogg AM, 2021, 'Super Residual Circulation: A New Perspective on Ocean Vertical Heat Transport', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 51, pp. 2443 - 2462, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-21-0008.1
Journal articles | 2021
Sohail T; Irving DB; Zika JD; Holmes RM; Church JA, 2021, 'Fifty Year Trends in Global Ocean Heat Content Traced to Surface Heat Fluxes in the Sub-Polar Ocean', Geophysical Research Letters, 48, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091439
Journal articles | 2021
Zika JD; Gregory JM; McDonagh EL; Marzocchi A; Clément L, 2021, 'Recent water mass changes reveal mechanisms of ocean warming', Journal of Climate, 34, pp. 3461 - 3479, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0355.1
Journal articles | 2020
Mackay N; Wilson C; Holliday NP; Zika JD, 2020, 'The observation-based application of a regional thermohaline inverse method to diagnose the formation and transformation of water masses north of the osnap array from 2013 to 2015', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 50, pp. 1533 - 1555, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-19-0188.1
Journal articles | 2020
Skliris N; Marsh R; Mecking JV; Zika JD, 2020, 'Changing water cycle and freshwater transports in the Atlantic Ocean in observations and CMIP5 models', Climate Dynamics, 54, pp. 4971 - 4989, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05261-y
Journal articles | 2020
Sohail T; Irving DB; Zika JD; Holmes RM; Church JA, 2020, 'Long-term global ocean heat content change driven by sub-polar surface heat fluxes', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10504695.1
Journal articles | 2020
Zika JD; Sallee JB; Meijers AJS; Naveira-Garabato AC; Watson AJ; Messias MJ; King BA, 2020, 'Tracking the spread of a passive tracer through Southern Ocean water masses', Ocean Science, 16, pp. 323 - 336, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/os-16-323-2020
Journal articles | 2019
Groeskamp S; Griffies SM; Iudicone D; Marsh R; Nurser AJG; Zika JD, 2019, 'The water mass transformation framework for ocean physics and biogeochemistry', Annual Review of Marine Science, 11, pp. 271 - 305, http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010318-095421
Journal articles | 2019
Holmes RM; Zika JD; England MH, 2019, 'Diathermal heat transport in a global ocean Model', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49, pp. 141 - 161, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-18-0098.1
Journal articles | 2019
Holmes RM; Zika JD; England MH, 2019, 'Reply to ‘‘comments on ‘diathermal heat transport in a global ocean model’’’', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49, pp. 2195 - 2197, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-19-0139.1
Journal articles | 2019
Holmes RM; Zika JD; Ferrari R; Thompson AF; Newsom ER; England MH, 2019, 'Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo-Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing', Geophysical Research Letters, 46, pp. 13939 - 13949, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085160
Journal articles | 2018
Evans DG; Zika JD; Naveira Garabato AC; Nurser AJG, 2018, 'The Cold Transit of Southern Ocean Upwelling', Geophysical Research Letters, 45, pp. 13 - 395, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079986
Journal articles | 2018
Mackay N; Wilson C; Zika J; Holliday NP, 2018, 'A regional thermohaline inverse method for estimating circulation and mixing in the Arctic and subpolar North Atlantic', Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 35, pp. 2383 - 2403, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-17-0198.1
Journal articles | 2018
Zika JD; Skliris N; Blaker AT; Marsh R; Nurser AJG; Josey SA, 2018, 'Improved estimates of water cycle change from ocean salinity: The key role of ocean warming', Environmental Research Letters, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aace42
Journal articles | 2018
Zika JD, 2018, 'Mediterranean sea water budget long-term trend inferred from salinity observations', Climate Dynamics, 51, pp. 2857 - 2876, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-4053-7
Journal articles | 2018
van Sebille E; Griffies SM; Abernathey R; Adams TP; Berloff P; Biastoch A; Blanke B; Chassignet EP; Cheng Y; Cotter CJ; Deleersnijder E; Döös K; Drake HF; Drijfhout S; Gary SF; Heemink AW; Kjellsson J; Koszalka IM; Lange M; Lique C; MacGilchrist GA; Marsh R; Mayorga Adame CG; McAdam R; Nencioli F; Paris CB; Piggott MD; Polton JA; Rühs S; Shah SHAM; Thomas MD; Wang J; Wolfram PJ; Zanna L; Zika JD, 2018, 'Lagrangian ocean analysis: Fundamentals and practices', Ocean Modelling, 121, pp. 49 - 75, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2017.11.008
Journal articles | 2017
Bruneau N; Zika J; Toumi R, 2017, 'Can the Ocean's Heat Engine Control Horizontal Circulation? Insights From the Caspian Sea', Geophysical Research Letters, 44, pp. 9893 - 9900, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075182
Journal articles | 2017
Doos K; Kjellsson J; Zika J; Laliberté F; Brodeau L; Campino AA, 2017, 'The coupled ocean-atmosphere hydrothermohaline circulation', Journal of Climate, 30, pp. 631 - 647, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0759.1
Journal articles | 2017
Evans DG; Toole J; Forget G; Zika JD; Garabato ACN; George Nurser AJ; Yu L, 2017, 'Recent wind-driven variability in atlantic water mass distribution and meridional overturning circulation', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 47, pp. 633 - 647, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-16-0089.1
Journal articles | 2017
Garabato ACN; MacGilchrist GA; Brown PJ; Evans DG; Meijers AJS; Zika JD, 2017, 'High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth's climate transitions', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 375, http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0324
Journal articles | 2017
Groeskamp S; Sloyan BM; Zika JD; McDougall TJ, 2017, 'Mixing inferred from an ocean climatology and surface fluxes', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 47, pp. 667 - 687, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-16-0125.1
Journal articles | 2017
Zika J, 2017, 'Earth Planet Redux', Art and Australia
Journal articles | 2016
Garabato ACN; Polzin KL; Ferrari R; Zika JD; Forryan A, 2016, 'A microscale view of mixing and overturning across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 46, pp. 233 - 254, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-15-0025.1
Journal articles | 2016
Grist JP; Josey SA; Zika JD; Evans DG; Skliris N, 2016, 'Assessing recent air-sea freshwater flux changes using a surface temperature-salinity space framework', Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 121, pp. 8787 - 8806, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012091
Journal articles | 2016
Lozier MS; Zika JD, 2016, 'Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program: a new international ocean observing system', Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 98, pp. 737 - 752, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0057.1
Journal articles | 2016
Naveira Garabato AC; Zika JD; Jullion L; Brown PJ; Holland PR; Meredith MP; Bacon S, 2016, 'The thermodynamic balance of the Weddell Gyre', Geophysical Research Letters, 43, pp. 317 - 325, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066658
Journal articles | 2016
Skliris N; Zika JD; Nurser G; Josey SA; Marsh R, 2016, 'Global water cycle amplifying at less than the Clausius-Clapeyron rate', Scientific Reports, 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep38752
Journal articles | 2015
Laliberté F; Zika J; Mudryk L; Kushner PJ; Kjellsson J; Döös K, 2015, 'Constrained work output of the moist atmospheric heat engine in a warming climate', Science, 347, pp. 540 - 543, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1257103
Journal articles | 2015
Langlais CE; Rintoul SR; Zika JD, 2015, 'Sensitivity of antarctic circumpolar current transport and eddy activity to wind patterns in the Southern Ocean', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 45, pp. 1051 - 1067, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-14-0053.1
Journal articles | 2015
Zika JD; Laliberté F; Mudryk LR; Sijp WP; Nurser AJG, 2015, 'Changes in ocean vertical heat transport with global warming', Geophysical Research Letters, 42, pp. 4940 - 4948, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064156
Journal articles | 2015
Zika JD; Skliris N; George Nurser AJ; Josey SA; Mudryk L; Laliberté F; Marsh R, 2015, 'Maintenance and broadening of the ocean's salinity distribution by the water cycle', Journal of Climate, 28, pp. 9550 - 9560, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0273.1
Journal articles | 2014
Evans DG; Zika JD; Naveira Garabato AC; Nurser AJG, 2014, 'The imprint of Southern Ocean overturning on seasonal water mass variability in Drake Passage', Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 119, pp. 7987 - 8010, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010097
Journal articles | 2014
Groeskamp S; Zika JD; Mcdougall TJ; Sloyan BM; Laliberté F, 2014, 'The representation of ocean circulation and variability in thermodynamic coordinates', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 44, pp. 1735 - 1750, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-0213.1
Journal articles | 2014
Groeskamp S; Zika JD; Sloyan BM; Mcdougall TJ; Mcintosh PC, 2014, 'A thermohaline inverse method for estimating diathermohaline circulation and mixing', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 44, pp. 2681 - 2697, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-14-0039.1
Journal articles | 2014
Kjellsson J; Döös K; Laliberté FB; Zika JD, 2014, 'The atmospheric general circulation in thermodynamical coordinates', Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 71, pp. 916 - 928, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-13-0173.1
Journal articles | 2014
Sijp WP; Zika JD; d'Orgeville M; England MH, 2014, 'Revisiting meridional overturing bistability using a minimal set of state variables: Stochastic theory', Climate Dynamics, 43, pp. 1661 - 1676, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-013-1992-5
Journal articles | 2013
Zika JD; Le Sommer J; Dufour CO; Molines JM; Barnier B; Brasseur P; Dussin R; Penduff T; Iudicone D; Lenton A; Madec G; Mathiot P; Orr J; Shuckburgh E; Vivier F, 2013, 'Vertical eddy fluxes in the Southern Ocean', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 43, pp. 941 - 955, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-12-0178.1
Journal articles | 2013
Zika JD; Le Sommer J; Dufour CO; Naveira-Garabato A; Blaker A, 2013, 'Acceleration of the antarctic circumpolar current by wind stress along the Coast of Antarctica', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 43, pp. 2772 - 2784, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-091.1
Journal articles | 2012
Dufour CO; Sommer LL; Zika JD; Gehlen M; Orr JC; Mathiot P; Barnier B, 2012, 'Standing and transient eddies in the response of the Southern Ocean meridional overturning to the Southern annular mode', Journal of Climate, 25, pp. 6958 - 6974, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00309.1
Journal articles | 2012
Zika JD; England MH; Sijp WP, 2012, 'The Ocean Circulation in Thermohaline Coordinates', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 42, pp. 708 - 724, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0139.1
Penduff T; Juza M; Barnier B; Zika J; Dewar WK; Treguier AM; Molines JM; Audiffren N, 2011, 'Sea level expression of intrinsic and forced ocean variabilities at interannual time scales', Journal of Climate, 24, pp. 5652 - 5670, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00077.1
Journal articles | 2010
Zika JD; Mcdougall TJ; Sloyan BM, 2010, 'A tracer-contour inverse method for estimating ocean circulation and mixing', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 40, pp. 26 - 47, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2010JPO4360.1
Journal articles | 2010
Zika JD; Mcdougall TJ; Sloyan BM, 2010, 'Weak mixing in the eastern North Atlantic: An application of the tracer-contour inverse method', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 40, pp. 1881 - 1893, http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/2010JPO4360.1
Journal articles | 2009
Zika JD; Sloyan BM; McDougall TJ, 2009, 'Diagnosing the Southern Ocean Overturning from Tracer Fields', Journal of Physical Oceanography, 39, pp. 2926 - 2940, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4052.1
Journal articles | 2008
Zika JD; Mcdougall TJ, 2008, 'Vertical and lateral mixing processes deduced from the Mediterranean water signature in the North Atlantic', Physical Oceanography, 38, pp. 164 - 176, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2007JPO3507.1
Nurser AJG; Griffies SM; Zika JD; Stanley GJ, 2022, A mathematical formalism for circulation in water mass configuration space, , http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10511370.1
Sohail T; Zika J; Irving D; Church J, 2021, Freshwater transport from warm to cold ocean regions amplifying faster than all model estimates, , http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-723246/v1
Preprints | 2020
Zika J; Gregory J; McDonagh E; Marzocchi A; Clement L, 2020, Recent water mass changes reveal mechanisms of ocean warming, , http://dx.doi.org/10.31223/osf.io/npxkb
Preprints | 2019
Zika JD; Sallée J-B; Meijers A; Naveira-Garabato A; Watson AJ; Messias M-J; King B, 2019, Tracking the spread of a passive tracer through Southern Ocean water masses, , http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/os-2019-97