Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream
Abstract Labrador Slope Water (LSLW) is a relatively fresh and cool water mass that originates from the Labrador Current in the subarctic and is known to occur in the Eastern Slope Sea on the US-Canadian shelf-slope north of the Gulf Stream. It has potential densities of 27.4–27.65 kg m −3 . Using o...
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crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 2024-10-06T13:50:27+00:00 Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream New, A L Smeed, D A Czaja, A Blaker, A T Mecking, J V Mathews, J P Sanchez-Franks, A Natural Environment Research Council European Commission 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 16, issue 8, page 084019 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2021 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 2024-09-09T05:45:56Z Abstract Labrador Slope Water (LSLW) is a relatively fresh and cool water mass that originates from the Labrador Current in the subarctic and is known to occur in the Eastern Slope Sea on the US-Canadian shelf-slope north of the Gulf Stream. It has potential densities of 27.4–27.65 kg m −3 . Using ocean observations, we show here that the LSLW penetrates as a boundary current deeply into the Western Slope Sea (west of 66°W) as a salinity minimum between 400 and 600 m, bringing it into close proximity with the Gulf Stream. The LSLW at Line W (near 69°W) also spreads across, and brings fresher and thicker waters to, the Slope Sea north of the Gulf Stream. A high-resolution ocean model simulation shows that the spreading of the LSLW occurs throughout the entire Slope Sea through the extrusion of fine-scale filaments from the boundary current following interaction with Gulf Stream meanders and eddies. At Line W, the LSLW is also found to be fresher and thicker between 2003 and 2008, when the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at 26°N is higher (by 3 Sv), and the Shelf Slope Front is further south (by 0.7°), compared to AMOC low conditions in 2009–2014. The thicker LSLW causes lighter isopycnals to rise over the shelf slope, and through increasing the lateral density gradient contributes an additional 1.3 Sv to the Gulf Stream transport. These changes to the LSLW and the Shelf Slope Front are likely to result from an enhanced flow of the Labrador Current into the Slope Sea, caused by changes in the wind stress in the subpolar gyre. The transport of the LSLW (as opposed to the deeper Labrador Sea Water) thereby offers a potential new mechanism for decadal variability in the Atlantic climate system, through connecting changes in the subarctic with subsequent variability in the Gulf Stream and AMOC. Article in Journal/Newspaper Labrador Sea Subarctic IOP Publishing Environmental Research Letters 16 8 084019 |
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description |
Abstract Labrador Slope Water (LSLW) is a relatively fresh and cool water mass that originates from the Labrador Current in the subarctic and is known to occur in the Eastern Slope Sea on the US-Canadian shelf-slope north of the Gulf Stream. It has potential densities of 27.4–27.65 kg m −3 . Using ocean observations, we show here that the LSLW penetrates as a boundary current deeply into the Western Slope Sea (west of 66°W) as a salinity minimum between 400 and 600 m, bringing it into close proximity with the Gulf Stream. The LSLW at Line W (near 69°W) also spreads across, and brings fresher and thicker waters to, the Slope Sea north of the Gulf Stream. A high-resolution ocean model simulation shows that the spreading of the LSLW occurs throughout the entire Slope Sea through the extrusion of fine-scale filaments from the boundary current following interaction with Gulf Stream meanders and eddies. At Line W, the LSLW is also found to be fresher and thicker between 2003 and 2008, when the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at 26°N is higher (by 3 Sv), and the Shelf Slope Front is further south (by 0.7°), compared to AMOC low conditions in 2009–2014. The thicker LSLW causes lighter isopycnals to rise over the shelf slope, and through increasing the lateral density gradient contributes an additional 1.3 Sv to the Gulf Stream transport. These changes to the LSLW and the Shelf Slope Front are likely to result from an enhanced flow of the Labrador Current into the Slope Sea, caused by changes in the wind stress in the subpolar gyre. The transport of the LSLW (as opposed to the deeper Labrador Sea Water) thereby offers a potential new mechanism for decadal variability in the Atlantic climate system, through connecting changes in the subarctic with subsequent variability in the Gulf Stream and AMOC. |
author2 |
Natural Environment Research Council European Commission |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
New, A L Smeed, D A Czaja, A Blaker, A T Mecking, J V Mathews, J P Sanchez-Franks, A |
spellingShingle |
New, A L Smeed, D A Czaja, A Blaker, A T Mecking, J V Mathews, J P Sanchez-Franks, A Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
author_facet |
New, A L Smeed, D A Czaja, A Blaker, A T Mecking, J V Mathews, J P Sanchez-Franks, A |
author_sort |
New, A L |
title |
Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
title_short |
Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
title_full |
Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
title_fullStr |
Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
title_full_unstemmed |
Labrador Slope Water connects the subarctic with the Gulf Stream |
title_sort |
labrador slope water connects the subarctic with the gulf stream |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293/pdf |
genre |
Labrador Sea Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Labrador Sea Subarctic |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 16, issue 8, page 084019 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1293 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
084019 |
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1812178569482207232 |