The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure
Analyses of meridional transport time series from the RAPID MOC array at 26°N and from Argo float and altimetry data at 41°N reveal that, at semi-annual and longer time scales, the contribution from the western boundary dominates the variability of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulati...
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/1/JPO-D-13-026-Elipot.pdf |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:503290 2023-05-15T17:30:36+02:00 The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure Elipot, Shane Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Hughes, Chris W. Willis, Joshua 2014-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/1/JPO-D-13-026-Elipot.pdf en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/1/JPO-D-13-026-Elipot.pdf Elipot, Shane; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Hughes, Chris W. orcid:0000-0002-9355-0233 Willis, Joshua. 2014 The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 44 (2). 517-537. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1 2023-02-04T19:37:46Z Analyses of meridional transport time series from the RAPID MOC array at 26°N and from Argo float and altimetry data at 41°N reveal that, at semi-annual and longer time scales, the contribution from the western boundary dominates the variability of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), defined as the transport in the upper 1000 m of the ocean. Since the variability of the western boundary contribution is associated with a geostrophic overturning, it is reected in independent estimates of transports from gradient of ocean bottom pressure (OBP) relative to and below 1000 m on the continental slope of the western boundary at three nominal latitudes (26°N, 39°N and 42.5°N). Time series of western meridional transports relative to and below 1000 m derived from OBP gradient, or equivalently derived from transport shear profile, exhibit approximately the same phase relationship between 26°N and 39–42.5°N as the western contribution to the geostrophic MOC time series do: the western geostrophic MOC at 41°N precedes the MOC at 26°N by approximately a quarter of an annual cycle, resulting in a zero correlation at this time scale. This study therefore demonstrates how OBP gradients on basin boundaries can be used to monitor the MOC and its meridional coherence. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Journal of Physical Oceanography 44 2 517 537 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Analyses of meridional transport time series from the RAPID MOC array at 26°N and from Argo float and altimetry data at 41°N reveal that, at semi-annual and longer time scales, the contribution from the western boundary dominates the variability of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), defined as the transport in the upper 1000 m of the ocean. Since the variability of the western boundary contribution is associated with a geostrophic overturning, it is reected in independent estimates of transports from gradient of ocean bottom pressure (OBP) relative to and below 1000 m on the continental slope of the western boundary at three nominal latitudes (26°N, 39°N and 42.5°N). Time series of western meridional transports relative to and below 1000 m derived from OBP gradient, or equivalently derived from transport shear profile, exhibit approximately the same phase relationship between 26°N and 39–42.5°N as the western contribution to the geostrophic MOC time series do: the western geostrophic MOC at 41°N precedes the MOC at 26°N by approximately a quarter of an annual cycle, resulting in a zero correlation at this time scale. This study therefore demonstrates how OBP gradients on basin boundaries can be used to monitor the MOC and its meridional coherence. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elipot, Shane Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Hughes, Chris W. Willis, Joshua |
spellingShingle |
Elipot, Shane Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Hughes, Chris W. Willis, Joshua The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
author_facet |
Elipot, Shane Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Hughes, Chris W. Willis, Joshua |
author_sort |
Elipot, Shane |
title |
The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
title_short |
The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
title_full |
The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
title_fullStr |
The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
title_full_unstemmed |
The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure |
title_sort |
observed north atlantic meridional overturning circulation, its meridional coherence and ocean bottom pressure |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/1/JPO-D-13-026-Elipot.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503290/1/JPO-D-13-026-Elipot.pdf Elipot, Shane; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Hughes, Chris W. orcid:0000-0002-9355-0233 Willis, Joshua. 2014 The observed North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, its Meridional Coherence and Ocean Bottom Pressure. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 44 (2). 517-537. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-026.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
517 |
op_container_end_page |
537 |
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1766127446143270912 |