The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Can the equatorial ocean quickly respond to Antarctic sea ice/salinity anomalies?

Can the equatorial ocean quickly respond to Antarctic sea ice/salinity anomalies?
Can the equatorial ocean quickly respond to Antarctic sea ice/salinity anomalies?
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) plays a critical role in many of the extremes or anomalies of climate, causing floods, droughts and the collapse of fisheries. Recent studies have revealed a statistically–significant link between equatorial processes and sea-ice anomalies in the Southern Ocean. The generally accepted view is that the primary interaction of the equatorial and polar oceans takes place via the atmosphere. Indeed, the lag in these processes is usually of the order of a few months, and is much too quick to be connected with ocean currents. The question is: can climate anomaly signals effectively and rapidly propagate by another oceanic mechanism? It is demonstrated that signals generated by anomalies in the Antarctic sea-ice cover/salinity distribution can propagate in a wave-like manner in the form of fast-moving barotropic Rossby waves. Such waves propagates from the Drake Passage to the western Pacific in only few days. This signal is reflected at the western boundary of the Pacific and generates an coastally trapped Kelvin wave moving equatorwards. The resulting temperature anomaly propagates northwards along the western coastline to the vicinity of the equator and increases in amplitude in time. The anomaly in the western edge of the equatorial Pacific then begins to move eastward along the equator as a trapped equatorial wave. After about 2–3 months this wave reaches the eastern coast. This process is suggested as one possible direct mechanism by which the extra–tropical ocean can induce anomalies in the equatorial ocean.
0094-8276
L15310
Ivchenko, V.O.
beb6b3f0-541e-4327-866d-17944023bd8c
Zalesny, V.B.
f498beb9-4ac3-410e-b563-0deeeb1f8e9e
Drinkwater, M.R.
c4e41711-4194-4f7e-8e2f-54e2d0dc0a58
Ivchenko, V.O.
beb6b3f0-541e-4327-866d-17944023bd8c
Zalesny, V.B.
f498beb9-4ac3-410e-b563-0deeeb1f8e9e
Drinkwater, M.R.
c4e41711-4194-4f7e-8e2f-54e2d0dc0a58

Ivchenko, V.O., Zalesny, V.B. and Drinkwater, M.R. (2004) Can the equatorial ocean quickly respond to Antarctic sea ice/salinity anomalies? Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L15310. (doi:10.1029/2004GL020472).

Record type: Article

Abstract

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) plays a critical role in many of the extremes or anomalies of climate, causing floods, droughts and the collapse of fisheries. Recent studies have revealed a statistically–significant link between equatorial processes and sea-ice anomalies in the Southern Ocean. The generally accepted view is that the primary interaction of the equatorial and polar oceans takes place via the atmosphere. Indeed, the lag in these processes is usually of the order of a few months, and is much too quick to be connected with ocean currents. The question is: can climate anomaly signals effectively and rapidly propagate by another oceanic mechanism? It is demonstrated that signals generated by anomalies in the Antarctic sea-ice cover/salinity distribution can propagate in a wave-like manner in the form of fast-moving barotropic Rossby waves. Such waves propagates from the Drake Passage to the western Pacific in only few days. This signal is reflected at the western boundary of the Pacific and generates an coastally trapped Kelvin wave moving equatorwards. The resulting temperature anomaly propagates northwards along the western coastline to the vicinity of the equator and increases in amplitude in time. The anomaly in the western edge of the equatorial Pacific then begins to move eastward along the equator as a trapped equatorial wave. After about 2–3 months this wave reaches the eastern coast. This process is suggested as one possible direct mechanism by which the extra–tropical ocean can induce anomalies in the equatorial ocean.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2004
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 9005
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/9005
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 16171122-b6e9-4ead-a67e-ff4a5e4f338a

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Aug 2004
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:53

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: V.O. Ivchenko
Author: V.B. Zalesny
Author: M.R. Drinkwater

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×