We investigate the mechanism of the connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific deep water through the Antarctic Circumpolar Current by using an idealized two-basin model. It is found that the presence of the marked density stratification in the circumpolar region well below the Drake Passage sill is essential for reproducing the realistic connection. The deep stratification forms when a body forcing is imposed at the bottom level in the bottom water formation region. The body forcing is to mimic the formation process of the Antarctic Bottom Water, in which its characteristics are obtained through entrainment during downwelling. Then the bottom water is confined to the depths well below the Drake Passage sill and the deep water from the north tends to occupy the depths even below the Drake Passage sill. Flowing around Antarctica the water from the north upwells owing to the Ekman suction. Consequently, realistic water property distributions in the deep Pacific are well reproduced. It is demonstrated that this mechanism works in the world ocean model. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union