Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports
Recent measurements of the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation at 26°N show a 1 year drop and partial recovery amid a gradual weakening. To examine the extent and impact of the slowdown on basin wide heat and freshwater transports for 2004–2012, a box model that assimilates hydrographic...
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:401183 2023-07-30T04:05:24+02:00 Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports Kelly, Kathryn A. Drushka, Kyla Thompson, LuAnne Le Bars, Dewi Mcdonagh, Elaine L. 2016-07-28 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/1/grl54726.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/1/grl54726.pdf Kelly, Kathryn A., Drushka, Kyla, Thompson, LuAnne, Le Bars, Dewi and Mcdonagh, Elaine L. (2016) Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 (14), 7625-7631. (doi:10.1002/2016GL069789 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069789>). Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069789 2023-07-09T22:11:04Z Recent measurements of the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation at 26°N show a 1 year drop and partial recovery amid a gradual weakening. To examine the extent and impact of the slowdown on basin wide heat and freshwater transports for 2004–2012, a box model that assimilates hydrographic and satellite observations is used to estimate heat transport and freshwater convergence as residuals of the heat and freshwater budgets. Using an independent transport estimate, convergences are converted to transports, which show a high level of spatial coherence. The similarity between Atlantic heat transport and the Agulhas Leakage suggests that it is the source of the surface heat transport anomalies. The freshwater budget in the North Atlantic is dominated by a decrease in freshwater flux. The increasing salinity during the slowdown supports modeling studies that show that heat, not freshwater, drives trends in the overturning circulation in a warming climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Geophysical Research Letters 43 14 7625 7631 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
Recent measurements of the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation at 26°N show a 1 year drop and partial recovery amid a gradual weakening. To examine the extent and impact of the slowdown on basin wide heat and freshwater transports for 2004–2012, a box model that assimilates hydrographic and satellite observations is used to estimate heat transport and freshwater convergence as residuals of the heat and freshwater budgets. Using an independent transport estimate, convergences are converted to transports, which show a high level of spatial coherence. The similarity between Atlantic heat transport and the Agulhas Leakage suggests that it is the source of the surface heat transport anomalies. The freshwater budget in the North Atlantic is dominated by a decrease in freshwater flux. The increasing salinity during the slowdown supports modeling studies that show that heat, not freshwater, drives trends in the overturning circulation in a warming climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kelly, Kathryn A. Drushka, Kyla Thompson, LuAnne Le Bars, Dewi Mcdonagh, Elaine L. |
spellingShingle |
Kelly, Kathryn A. Drushka, Kyla Thompson, LuAnne Le Bars, Dewi Mcdonagh, Elaine L. Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
author_facet |
Kelly, Kathryn A. Drushka, Kyla Thompson, LuAnne Le Bars, Dewi Mcdonagh, Elaine L. |
author_sort |
Kelly, Kathryn A. |
title |
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
title_short |
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
title_full |
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
title_fullStr |
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
title_sort |
impact of slowdown of atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/1/grl54726.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401183/1/grl54726.pdf Kelly, Kathryn A., Drushka, Kyla, Thompson, LuAnne, Le Bars, Dewi and Mcdonagh, Elaine L. (2016) Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 (14), 7625-7631. (doi:10.1002/2016GL069789 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069789>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069789 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
14 |
container_start_page |
7625 |
op_container_end_page |
7631 |
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1772817274053328896 |