scholarly journals Interannual variability of the northwestern Iberia deep ocean: Response to large-scale North Atlantic forcing

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 832-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Prieto ◽  
C. González-Pola ◽  
A. Lavín ◽  
N. P. Holliday
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Response

Shifting ocean circulation warms the Subpolar North Atlantic since 2016

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Desbruyères ◽  
Léon Chafik ◽  
Guillaume Maze
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Heat Uptake ◽  
Driving Mechanisms ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
Ocean Observing

<p>The Subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is known for rapid reversals of decadal temperature trends, with ramifications encompassing the large-scale meridional overturning and gyre circulations, Arctic heat and mass balances, or extreme continental weather. Here, we combine datasets derived from sustained ocean observing systems (satellite and in situ), and idealized observation-based modelling (advection-diffusion of a passive tracer) and machine learning technique (ocean profile clustering) to document and explain the most-recent and ongoing cooling-to-warming transition of the SPNA. Following a gradual cooling of the region that was persisting since 2006, a surface-intensified and large-scale warming sharply emerged in 2016 following an ocean circulation shift that enhanced the northeastward penetration of warm and saline waters from the western subtropics. Driving mechanisms and ramification for deep ocean heat uptake will be discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Simulating oceanic radiocarbon with the FAMOUS GCM: implications for its use as a proxy for ventilation and carbon uptake

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Dentith ◽  
Ruza F. Ivanovic ◽  
Lauren J. Gregoire ◽  
Julia C. Tindall ◽  
Laura F. Robinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Water Age ◽  
Surface Ocean

Abstract. Constraining ocean circulation and its temporal variability is crucial for understanding changes in surface climate and the carbon cycle. Radiocarbon (14C) is often used as a geochemical tracer of ocean circulation, but interpreting ∆14C in geological archives is complex. Isotope-enabled models enable us to directly compare simulated ∆14C values to Δ14C measurements and investigate plausible mechanisms for the observed signals. We have added three new tracers (water age, abiotic 14C, and biotic 14C) to the ocean component of the FAMOUS General Circulation Model to study large-scale ocean circulation and the marine carbon cycle. Following a 10 000 year spin-up, we prescribed the Suess effect (the isotopic imprint of anthropogenic fossil fuel burning) and the bomb pulse (the isotopic imprint of thermonuclear weapons testing) in a transient simulation spanning 1765 to 2000 CE. To validate the new isotope scheme, we compare the model output to direct ∆14C observations in the surface ocean (pre-bomb and post-bomb) and at depth (post-bomb only). We also compare the timing, shape and amplitude of the simulated marine bomb spike to ∆14C in geological archives from shallow-to-intermediate water depths across the North Atlantic. The model captures the large-scale structure and range of ∆14C values (both spatially and temporally) suggesting that, on the whole, the uptake and transport of 14C are well represented in FAMOUS. Differences between the simulated and observed values arise due to physical model biases (such as weak surface winds and over-deep North Atlantic Deep Water), demonstrating the potential of the 14C tracer as a sensitive, independent tuning diagnostic. We also examine the importance of the biological pump for deep ocean 14C concentrations and assess the extent to which 14C can be interpreted as a ventilation tracer. Comparing the simulated biotic and abiotic δ14C, we infer that biology has a spatially heterogeneous influence on 14C distributions in the surface ocean (between 18 and 30 ‰), but a near constant influence at depth (≈ 20 ‰). Nevertheless, the decoupling between the simulated water ages and the simulated 14C ages in FAMOUS demonstrates that interpreting proxy ∆14C measurements in terms of ventilation alone could lead to erroneous conclusions about palaeocean circulation. Specifically, our results suggest that ∆14C is only a faithful proxy for water age in regions with strong convection; elsewhere, the temperature dependence of the solubility of CO2 in seawater complicates the signal.

scholarly journals Modulation of Saharan dust export by the North African dipole

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 7471-7486 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Rodríguez ◽  
E. Cuevas ◽  
J. M. Prospero ◽  
A. Alastuey ◽  
X. Querol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
North Africa ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
North African ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. We have studied the relationship between the long-term interannual variability in large-scale meteorology in western North Africa – the largest and most active dust source worldwide – and Saharan dust export in summer, when enhanced dust mobilization in the hyper-arid Sahara results in maximum dust impacts throughout the North Atlantic. We address this issue by analyzing 28 years (1987–2014) of summer averaged dust concentrations at the high-altitude Izaña observatory (~ 2400 m a.s.l.) on Tenerife, and satellite and meteorological reanalysis data. The summer meteorological scenario in North Africa (aloft 850 hPa) is characterized by a high over the the subtropical Sahara and a low over the tropics linked to the monsoon. We measured the variability of this high–low dipole-like pattern in terms of the North African dipole intensity (NAFDI): the difference of geopotential height anomalies averaged over the subtropics (30–32° N, Morocco) and the tropics (10–13° N, Bamako region) close to the Atlantic coast (at 5–8° W). We focused on the 700 hPa standard level due to dust export off the coast of North Africa tending to occur between 1 and 5 km a.s.l. Variability in the NAFDI is associated with displacements of the North African anticyclone over the Sahara and this has implications for wind and dust export. The correlations we found between the 1987–2014 summer mean of NAFDI with dust at Izaña, satellite dust observations and meteorological re-analysis data indicate that increases in the NAFDI (i) result in higher wind speeds at the north of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone that are associated with enhanced dust export over the subtropical North Atlantic, (ii) influence the long-term variability of the size distribution of exported dust particles (increasing the load of coarse dust) and (iii) are associated with enhanced rains in the tropical and northern shifts of the tropical rain band that may affect the southern Sahel. Interannual variability in NAFDI is also connected to spatial distribution of dust over the North Atlantic; high NAFDI summers are associated with major dust export (linked to winds) in the subtropics and minor dust loads in the tropics (linked to higher rainfall), and vice versa. The evolution of the summer NAFDI values since 1950 to the present day shows connections to climatic variability (through the Sahelian drought, ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) and winds) that have implications for dust export paths. Efforts to anticipate how dust export may evolve in future decades will require a better understanding of how the large-scale meteorological systems represented by the NAFD will evolve.

scholarly journals Interannual variability of winter precipitation in the European Alps: relations with the North Atlantic Oscillation.

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bartolini ◽  
P. Claps ◽  
P. D'Odorico
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
European Alps ◽  
The Alps

Abstract. The European Alps rely on winter precipitation for various needs in terms of hydropower and other water uses. Major European rivers originate from the Alps and depend on winter precipitation and the consequent spring snow melt for their summer base flows. Understanding the fluctuations in winter rainfall in this region is crucially important to the study of changes in hydrologic regime in river basins, as well as to the management of their water resources. Despite the recognized relevance of winter precipitation to the water resources of the Alps and surrounding regions, the magnitude and mechanistic explanation of interannual precipitation variability in the Alpine region remains unclear and poorly investigated. Here we use gridded precipitation data from the CRU TS 1.2 to study the interannual variability of winter alpine precipitation. We found that the Alps are the region with the highest interannual variability in winter precipitation in Europe. This variability cannot be explained by large scale climate patterns such as the Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR), even though regions below and above the Alps demonstrate connections with these patterns. Significant trends were detected only in small regions located in the Eastern part of the Alps.

scholarly journals Asynchronous warming and δ18O evolution of deep Atlantic water masses during the last deglaciation

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (42) ◽  
pp. 11075-11080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaxu Zhang ◽  
Zhengyu Liu ◽  
Esther C. Brady ◽  
Delia W. Oppo ◽  
Peter U. Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
The Last Deglaciation

The large-scale reorganization of deep ocean circulation in the Atlantic involving changes in North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) played a critical role in regulating hemispheric and global climate during the last deglaciation. However, changes in the relative contributions of NADW and AABW and their properties are poorly constrained by marine records, including δ18O of benthic foraminiferal calcite (δ18Oc). Here, we use an isotope-enabled ocean general circulation model with realistic geometry and forcing conditions to simulate the deglacial water mass and δ18O evolution. Model results suggest that, in response to North Atlantic freshwater forcing during the early phase of the last deglaciation, NADW nearly collapses, while AABW mildly weakens. Rather than reflecting changes in NADW or AABW properties caused by freshwater input as suggested previously, the observed phasing difference of deep δ18Oc likely reflects early warming of the deep northern North Atlantic by ∼1.4 °C, while deep Southern Ocean temperature remains largely unchanged. We propose a thermodynamic mechanism to explain the early warming in the North Atlantic, featuring a strong middepth warming and enhanced downward heat flux via vertical mixing. Our results emphasize that the way that ocean circulation affects heat, a dynamic tracer, is considerably different from how it affects passive tracers, like δ18O, and call for caution when inferring water mass changes from δ18Oc records while assuming uniform changes in deep temperatures.

scholarly journals Concurrent Changes to Hadley Circulation and the Meridional Distribution of Tropical Cyclones

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 4367-4389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Studholme ◽  
Sergey Gulev
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Hadley Circulation ◽  
Direct Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
Extreme North

AbstractPoleward trends in seasonal-mean latitudes of tropical cyclones (TCs) have been identified in direct observations from 1980 to the present. Paleoclimate reconstructions also indicate poleward–equatorward migrations over centennial–millennial time scales. Hadley circulation (HC) is often both implicitly and explicitly invoked to provide dynamical linkages to these shifts, although no direct analysis of concurrent changes in the recent period has been presented. Here, the observational TC record (1981–2016) and ERA-Interim, JRA-55, and MERRA-2 are studied to examine potential relationships between the two. A zonally asymmetric HC is defined by employing Helmholtz theory for vector decomposition, and this permits the derivation of novel HC diagnostics local to TC basins.Coherent variations in both long-term linear trends and detrended interannual variability are found. TC genesis and lifetime maximum intensity latitudes share trend sign and magnitude with shifts in local HC extent, with rates being approximately 0.25° ± 0.1° lat decade−1. Both these life cycle stages in hemispheric means and all Pacific TC basins, as well as poleward-extreme North Atlantic lysis latitudes, shared approximately 35% of their interannual variability with HC extent. Local HC intensity is linked only to eastern North Pacific TC latitudes, where strong local overturning corresponds to equatorward TC shifts. Examination of potential dynamical linkages implicates La Niña–like sea surface temperature gradients to poleward HC termini. This corresponds to increased tropical and reduced subtropical vertical wind shear everywhere except in the North Atlantic and western North Pacific, where the opposite is true. These results quantify a long-hypothesized link between TCs and the large-scale oceanic–atmospheric state.

scholarly journals The Combined Effects of SST and the North Atlantic Subtropical High-Pressure System on the Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone Interannual Variability

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
Albenis Pérez-Alarcón ◽  
José C. Fernández-Alvarez ◽  
Rogert Sorí ◽  
Raquel Nieto ◽  
Luis Gimeno
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Central America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The West ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Pressure System ◽  
North Atlantic Subtropical High ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

The combined effect of the sea surface temperature (SST) and the North Atlantic subtropical high-pressure system (NASH) in the interannual variability of the genesis of tropical cyclones (TCs) and landfalling in the period 1980–2019 is explored in this study. The SST was extracted from the Centennial Time Scale dataset from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and TC records were obtained from the Atlantic Hurricane Database of the NOAA/National Hurricane Center. The genesis and landfalling regions were objectively clustered for this analysis. Seven regions of TC genesis and five for landfalling were identified. Intercluster differences were observed in the monthly frequency distribution and annual variability, both for genesis and landfalling. From the generalized least square multiple regression model, SST and NASH (intensity and position) covariates can explain 22.7% of the variance of the frequency of TC genesis, but it is only statistically significant (p < 0.1) for the NASH center latitude. The SST mostly modulates the frequency of TCs formed near the West African coast, and the NASH latitudinal variation affects those originated in the Lesser Antilles arc. For landfalling, both covariates explain 38.7% of the variance; however, significant differences are observed in the comparison between each region. With a statistical significance higher than 90%, SST and NASH explain 33.4% of the landfalling variability in the archipelago of the Bahamas and central–eastern region of Cuba. Besides, landfalls in the Gulf of Mexico and Central America seem to be modulated by SST. It was also found there was no statistically significant relationship between the frequency of genesis and landfalling with the NASH intensity. However, the NASH structure modulates the probability density of the TCs trajectory that make landfall once or several times in their lifetime. Thus, the NASH variability throughout a hurricane season affects the TCs trajectory in the North Atlantic basin. Moreover, we found that the landfalling frequency of TCs formed near the West Africa coast and the central North Atlantic is relatively low. Furthermore, the SST and NASH longitude center explains 31.6% (p < 0.05) of the variance of the landfalling intensity in the archipelago of the Bahamas, while the SST explains 26.4% (p < 0.05) in Central America. Furthermore, the 5-year moving average filter revealed decadal and multidecadal variability in both genesis and landfalling by region. Our findings confirm the complexity of the atmospheric processes involved in the TC genesis and landfalling.

scholarly journals Atmospheric Conditions Associated with Labrador Sea Deep Convection: New Insights from a Case Study of the 2006/07 and 2007/08 Winters

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (14) ◽  
pp. 5281-5297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Who M. Kim ◽  
Stephen Yeager ◽  
Ping Chang ◽  
Gokhan Danabasoglu
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Circulation Anomaly ◽  
La Nina

Abstract Deep convection in the Labrador Sea (LS) resumed in the winter of 2007/08 under a moderately positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) state. This is in sharp contrast with the previous winter with weak convection, despite a similar positive NAO state. This disparity is explored here by analyzing reanalysis data and forced-ocean simulations. It is found that the difference in deep convection is primarily due to differences in large-scale atmospheric conditions that are not accounted for by the conventional NAO definition. Specifically, the 2007/08 winter was characterized by an atmospheric circulation anomaly centered in the western North Atlantic, rather than the eastern North Atlantic that the conventional NAO emphasizes. This anomalous circulation was also accompanied by anomalously cold conditions over northern North America. The controlling influence of these atmospheric conditions on LS deep convection in the 2008 winter is confirmed by sensitivity experiments where surface forcing and/or initial conditions are modified. An extended analysis for the 1949–2009 period shows that about half of the winters with strong heat losses in the LS are associated with such a west-centered circulation anomaly and cold conditions over northern North America. These are found to be accompanied by La Niña–like conditions in the tropical Pacific, suggesting that the atmospheric response to La Niña may have a strong influence on LS deep convection.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document