LAUSR

Abstract We study the behaviour at tipping points close to non-smooth fold bifurcations in non-autonomous systems. The focus is the Stommel-Box, and related climate models, which are non-smooth continuous Filippov-type dynamical systems, modelling thermohaline circulation. We obtain explicit asymptotic expressions for the behaviour at tipping points in the settings of both slowly varying freshwater forcing and rapidly oscillatory fluctuations. The results, based on combined multiple scale and local analyses, provide conditions for the sudden transitions between temperature-dominated and salinity-dominated states. In the context of high frequency oscillations, a multiple scale averaging approach can be used instead of the usual geometric approach normally required for Filippov-type systems. The explicit parametric dependencies of advances and lags in the tipping show a competition between dynamic features of the model. We make a contrast between the behaviour of tipping points close to both smooth Saddle Node Bifurcations and the non-smooth systems studied on this paper. In particular we show that the non-smooth case has earlier and more abrupt transitions. This result has clear implications for the design of early warning signals for tipping in the case of the non-smooth dynamical systems which often arise in climate models.