Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean
The Greenland ice sheet has experienced increasing mass loss since the 1990s1, 2. The enhanced freshwater flux due to both surface melt and outlet glacier discharge is assuming an increasingly important role in the changing freshwater budget of the subarctic Atlantic3. The sustained and increasing f...
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:33399 2023-08-27T04:09:35+02:00 Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean Böning, Claus W. Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Getzlaff, Klaus Bamber, Jonathan L. 2016-06-20 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/1/ngeo2740.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/2/ngeo2740-s1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740 en eng Nature Research https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/1/ngeo2740.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/2/ngeo2740-s1.pdf Böning, C. W. , Behrens, E., Biastoch, A. , Getzlaff, K. and Bamber, J. L. (2016) Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 9 (7). pp. 523-527. DOI 10.1038/ngeo2740 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740>. doi:10.1038/ngeo2740 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740 2023-08-06T23:19:54Z The Greenland ice sheet has experienced increasing mass loss since the 1990s1, 2. The enhanced freshwater flux due to both surface melt and outlet glacier discharge is assuming an increasingly important role in the changing freshwater budget of the subarctic Atlantic3. The sustained and increasing freshwater fluxes from Greenland to the surface ocean could lead to a suppression of deep winter convection in the Labrador Sea, with potential ramifications for the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation4, 5, 6. Here we assess the impact of the increases in the freshwater fluxes, reconstructed with full spatial resolution3, using a global ocean circulation model with a grid spacing fine enough to capture the small-scale, eddying transport processes in the subpolar North Atlantic. Our simulations suggest that the invasion of meltwater from the West Greenland shelf has initiated a gradual freshening trend at the surface of the Labrador Sea. Although the freshening is still smaller than the variability associated with the episodic ‘great salinity anomalies’, the accumulation of meltwater may become large enough to progressively dampen the deep winter convection in the coming years. We conclude that the freshwater anomaly has not yet had a significant impact on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic Subarctic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Greenland Nature Geoscience 9 7 523 527 |
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OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
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ftoceanrep |
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English |
description |
The Greenland ice sheet has experienced increasing mass loss since the 1990s1, 2. The enhanced freshwater flux due to both surface melt and outlet glacier discharge is assuming an increasingly important role in the changing freshwater budget of the subarctic Atlantic3. The sustained and increasing freshwater fluxes from Greenland to the surface ocean could lead to a suppression of deep winter convection in the Labrador Sea, with potential ramifications for the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation4, 5, 6. Here we assess the impact of the increases in the freshwater fluxes, reconstructed with full spatial resolution3, using a global ocean circulation model with a grid spacing fine enough to capture the small-scale, eddying transport processes in the subpolar North Atlantic. Our simulations suggest that the invasion of meltwater from the West Greenland shelf has initiated a gradual freshening trend at the surface of the Labrador Sea. Although the freshening is still smaller than the variability associated with the episodic ‘great salinity anomalies’, the accumulation of meltwater may become large enough to progressively dampen the deep winter convection in the coming years. We conclude that the freshwater anomaly has not yet had a significant impact on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Böning, Claus W. Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Getzlaff, Klaus Bamber, Jonathan L. |
spellingShingle |
Böning, Claus W. Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Getzlaff, Klaus Bamber, Jonathan L. Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
author_facet |
Böning, Claus W. Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Getzlaff, Klaus Bamber, Jonathan L. |
author_sort |
Böning, Claus W. |
title |
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
emerging impact of greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the north atlantic ocean |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/1/ngeo2740.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/2/ngeo2740-s1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic Subarctic |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic Subarctic |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/1/ngeo2740.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33399/2/ngeo2740-s1.pdf Böning, C. W. , Behrens, E., Biastoch, A. , Getzlaff, K. and Bamber, J. L. (2016) Emerging impact of Greenland meltwater on deepwater formation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 9 (7). pp. 523-527. DOI 10.1038/ngeo2740 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740>. doi:10.1038/ngeo2740 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
523 |
op_container_end_page |
527 |
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1775351091197640704 |