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Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean

Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean
Observations show that the upper 2 km of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean cooled throughout 2010 and remained cold until at least December 2011. We show that these cold anomalies are partly driven by anomalous air-sea exchange during the cold winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 and, more surprisingly, by extreme interannual variability in the ocean's northward heat transport at 26.5°N. This cooling driven by the ocean's meridional heat transport affects deeper layers isolated from the atmosphere on annual timescales and water that is entrained into the winter mixed layer thus lowering winter sea surface temperatures. Here we connect, for the first time, variability in the northward heat transport carried by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to widespread sustained cooling of the subtropical North Atlantic, challenging the prevailing view that the ocean plays a passive role in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system on monthly-to-seasonal timescales.
atlantic meridional overturning circulation, atlantic ocean heat transport, RAPID mooring array, atlantic subtropical gyre, ocean observing system, ocean heat content
0094-8276
6202-6207
Cunningham, Stuart A.
07f1bd78-d92f-478b-a016-b92f530142c3
Roberts, Christopher D.
4f3eb6ea-2941-481b-a3fc-ac5ce444167d
Frajka-Williams, Eleanor
da86044e-0f68-4cc9-8f60-7fdbc4dc19cb
Johns, William E.
e09ba73d-f275-4ff3-a07c-dfb8f1622b21
Hobbs, Will
26ad77ad-e21f-4180-bcca-911f0aa8b450
Palmer, Matthew D.
6a04b886-1373-4c15-8400-d95bc0d661ef
Rayner, Darren
60eaf35c-c54e-447b-8551-efc08637d122
Smeed, David A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
McCarthy, Gerard
fd87927d-feb3-447a-9cda-9558916df99f
Cunningham, Stuart A.
07f1bd78-d92f-478b-a016-b92f530142c3
Roberts, Christopher D.
4f3eb6ea-2941-481b-a3fc-ac5ce444167d
Frajka-Williams, Eleanor
da86044e-0f68-4cc9-8f60-7fdbc4dc19cb
Johns, William E.
e09ba73d-f275-4ff3-a07c-dfb8f1622b21
Hobbs, Will
26ad77ad-e21f-4180-bcca-911f0aa8b450
Palmer, Matthew D.
6a04b886-1373-4c15-8400-d95bc0d661ef
Rayner, Darren
60eaf35c-c54e-447b-8551-efc08637d122
Smeed, David A.
79eece5a-c870-47f9-bba0-0a4ef0369490
McCarthy, Gerard
fd87927d-feb3-447a-9cda-9558916df99f

Cunningham, Stuart A., Roberts, Christopher D., Frajka-Williams, Eleanor, Johns, William E., Hobbs, Will, Palmer, Matthew D., Rayner, Darren, Smeed, David A. and McCarthy, Gerard (2013) Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 40 (23), 6202-6207. (doi:10.1002/2013GL058464).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Observations show that the upper 2 km of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean cooled throughout 2010 and remained cold until at least December 2011. We show that these cold anomalies are partly driven by anomalous air-sea exchange during the cold winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 and, more surprisingly, by extreme interannual variability in the ocean's northward heat transport at 26.5°N. This cooling driven by the ocean's meridional heat transport affects deeper layers isolated from the atmosphere on annual timescales and water that is entrained into the winter mixed layer thus lowering winter sea surface temperatures. Here we connect, for the first time, variability in the northward heat transport carried by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to widespread sustained cooling of the subtropical North Atlantic, challenging the prevailing view that the ocean plays a passive role in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system on monthly-to-seasonal timescales.

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More information

Published date: 16 December 2013
Keywords: atlantic meridional overturning circulation, atlantic ocean heat transport, RAPID mooring array, atlantic subtropical gyre, ocean observing system, ocean heat content
Organisations: Physical Oceanography, Marine Physics and Ocean Climate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 361697
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/361697
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 46b5c430-7748-48c3-9327-d35a80892091
ORCID for Eleanor Frajka-Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8773-7838

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Date deposited: 30 Jan 2014 11:41
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:35

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Contributors

Author: Stuart A. Cunningham
Author: Christopher D. Roberts
Author: Eleanor Frajka-Williams ORCID iD
Author: William E. Johns
Author: Will Hobbs
Author: Matthew D. Palmer
Author: Darren Rayner
Author: David A. Smeed
Author: Gerard McCarthy

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