Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling
Abstract Declining atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are considered the primary driver for the Cenozoic Greenhouse-Icehouse transition, ~34 million years ago. A role for tectonically opening Southern Ocean gateways, initiating the onset of a thermally isolating Antarctic Circumpolar Current, has been...
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1 2023-05-15T14:12:56+02:00 Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling Sauermilch, Isabel Whittaker, Joanne M. Klocker, Andreas Munday, David R. Hochmuth, Katharina Bijl, Peter K. LaCasce, Joseph H. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26658-1.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26658-1 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Nature Communications volume 12, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry journal-article 2021 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1 2022-01-04T07:18:44Z Abstract Declining atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are considered the primary driver for the Cenozoic Greenhouse-Icehouse transition, ~34 million years ago. A role for tectonically opening Southern Ocean gateways, initiating the onset of a thermally isolating Antarctic Circumpolar Current, has been disputed as ocean models have not reproduced expected heat transport to the Antarctic coast. Here we use high-resolution ocean simulations with detailed paleobathymetry to demonstrate that tectonics did play a fundamental role in reorganising Southern Ocean circulation patterns and heat transport, consistent with available proxy data. When at least one gateway (Tasmanian or Drake) is shallow (300 m), gyres transport warm waters towards Antarctica. When the second gateway subsides below 300 m, these gyres weaken and cause a dramatic cooling (average of 2–4 °C, up to 5 °C) of Antarctic surface waters whilst the ACC remains weak. Our results demonstrate that tectonic changes are crucial for Southern Ocean climate change and should be carefully considered in constraining long-term climate sensitivity to CO 2 . Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Springer Nature (via Crossref) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Nature Communications 12 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
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General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Sauermilch, Isabel Whittaker, Joanne M. Klocker, Andreas Munday, David R. Hochmuth, Katharina Bijl, Peter K. LaCasce, Joseph H. Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
topic_facet |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
description |
Abstract Declining atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are considered the primary driver for the Cenozoic Greenhouse-Icehouse transition, ~34 million years ago. A role for tectonically opening Southern Ocean gateways, initiating the onset of a thermally isolating Antarctic Circumpolar Current, has been disputed as ocean models have not reproduced expected heat transport to the Antarctic coast. Here we use high-resolution ocean simulations with detailed paleobathymetry to demonstrate that tectonics did play a fundamental role in reorganising Southern Ocean circulation patterns and heat transport, consistent with available proxy data. When at least one gateway (Tasmanian or Drake) is shallow (300 m), gyres transport warm waters towards Antarctica. When the second gateway subsides below 300 m, these gyres weaken and cause a dramatic cooling (average of 2–4 °C, up to 5 °C) of Antarctic surface waters whilst the ACC remains weak. Our results demonstrate that tectonic changes are crucial for Southern Ocean climate change and should be carefully considered in constraining long-term climate sensitivity to CO 2 . |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sauermilch, Isabel Whittaker, Joanne M. Klocker, Andreas Munday, David R. Hochmuth, Katharina Bijl, Peter K. LaCasce, Joseph H. |
author_facet |
Sauermilch, Isabel Whittaker, Joanne M. Klocker, Andreas Munday, David R. Hochmuth, Katharina Bijl, Peter K. LaCasce, Joseph H. |
author_sort |
Sauermilch, Isabel |
title |
Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
title_short |
Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
title_full |
Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
title_fullStr |
Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling |
title_sort |
gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to southern ocean cooling |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26658-1.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26658-1 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Nature Communications volume 12, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766285311632998400 |