Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
The North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and its variability are examined in terms of the overturning in density space and diapycnal water mass transformation. The magnitude of the mean overturning is similar to the surface water mass transformation, but the density and properties of th...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10590669 2023-11-12T04:20:32+01:00 Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation Buckley, Martha W. Lozier, M. Susan Desbruyères, Damien Evans, Dafydd Gwyn 2023-12-11 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10590669/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37866380 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10590669/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37866380 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 © 2023 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci Articles Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 2023-10-29T00:45:57Z The North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and its variability are examined in terms of the overturning in density space and diapycnal water mass transformation. The magnitude of the mean overturning is similar to the surface water mass transformation, but the density and properties of these waters are modified by diapycnal mixing. Surface waters are progressively densified while circulating cyclonically around the subpolar gyre, with the densest waters and deepest convection occurring in the Labrador Sea and Nordic Seas. The eddy-driven interaction between the convective interior and boundary currents is a key to the export of dense waters from marginal seas. Due to the multitude of pathways of dense waters within the subpolar gyre, as well as mixing with older waters, waters exiting the subpolar gyre have a wide range of ages, with a mean age on the order of a decade. As a result, interannual changes in water mass transformation are mostly balanced locally and do not result in changes in export to the subtropics. Only persistent changes in water mass transformation result in changes in export to the subtropics. The dilution of signals from upstream water mass transformation suggests that variability in export of dense waters to the subtropics may be controlled by other processes, including interaction of dense waters with the energetic upper ocean. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Atlantic overturning: new observations and challenges’. Text Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic PubMed Central (PMC) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 381 2262 |
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Articles Buckley, Martha W. Lozier, M. Susan Desbruyères, Damien Evans, Dafydd Gwyn Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
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The North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and its variability are examined in terms of the overturning in density space and diapycnal water mass transformation. The magnitude of the mean overturning is similar to the surface water mass transformation, but the density and properties of these waters are modified by diapycnal mixing. Surface waters are progressively densified while circulating cyclonically around the subpolar gyre, with the densest waters and deepest convection occurring in the Labrador Sea and Nordic Seas. The eddy-driven interaction between the convective interior and boundary currents is a key to the export of dense waters from marginal seas. Due to the multitude of pathways of dense waters within the subpolar gyre, as well as mixing with older waters, waters exiting the subpolar gyre have a wide range of ages, with a mean age on the order of a decade. As a result, interannual changes in water mass transformation are mostly balanced locally and do not result in changes in export to the subtropics. Only persistent changes in water mass transformation result in changes in export to the subtropics. The dilution of signals from upstream water mass transformation suggests that variability in export of dense waters to the subtropics may be controlled by other processes, including interaction of dense waters with the energetic upper ocean. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Atlantic overturning: new observations and challenges’. |
format |
Text |
author |
Buckley, Martha W. Lozier, M. Susan Desbruyères, Damien Evans, Dafydd Gwyn |
author_facet |
Buckley, Martha W. Lozier, M. Susan Desbruyères, Damien Evans, Dafydd Gwyn |
author_sort |
Buckley, Martha W. |
title |
Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
title_short |
Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
title_full |
Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
title_fullStr |
Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Buoyancy forcing and the subpolar Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
title_sort |
buoyancy forcing and the subpolar atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10590669/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37866380 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 |
genre |
Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
op_source |
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10590669/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37866380 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 |
op_rights |
© 2023 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0181 |
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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
container_volume |
381 |
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2262 |
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