Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean
Continuous observations of ocean circulation at 26°N in the subtropical Atlantic Ocean have been made since April 2004 to quantify the strength and variability in the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), in which warm, upper waters flow northward and colder deep waters below 1100 m de...
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Online Access: | https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/1/rspa.2021.0172_1_.pdf |
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:455125 2023-12-03T10:26:18+01:00 Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean Bryden, Harry L. 2021-12-08 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/1/rspa.2021.0172_1_.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/1/rspa.2021.0172_1_.pdf Bryden, Harry L. (2021) Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 477 (2256). (doi:10.1098/rspa.2021.0172 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2021.0172>). cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2021.0172 2023-11-03T00:03:51Z Continuous observations of ocean circulation at 26°N in the subtropical Atlantic Ocean have been made since April 2004 to quantify the strength and variability in the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), in which warm, upper waters flow northward and colder deep waters below 1100 m depth return southward. The principal components of the AMOC are northward western boundary current transport in the Gulf Stream and Antilles Current, northward surface Ekman transport and southward thermocline recirculation, all of which are generally considered to be part of the wind-driven circulation. Southward flowing deep waters below 1100 m depth are usually considered to represent the buoyancy-driven circulation. We argue that the Gulf Stream is partially wind-driven but also partially buoyancy-driven as it returns upper waters upwelled in the global ocean back to water mass formation regions in the northern Atlantic. Seasonal to interannual variations in the circulation at 26°N are principally wind-driven. Variability in the buoyancy-driven circulation occurred in a sharp reduction in 2009 in the southward flow of Lower North Atlantic Deep Water when its transport decreased by 30% from pre-2009 values. Over the 14-year observational period from 2004 to 2018, the AMOC declined by 2.4 Sv from 18.3 to 15.9 Sv. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 477 2256 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
Continuous observations of ocean circulation at 26°N in the subtropical Atlantic Ocean have been made since April 2004 to quantify the strength and variability in the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), in which warm, upper waters flow northward and colder deep waters below 1100 m depth return southward. The principal components of the AMOC are northward western boundary current transport in the Gulf Stream and Antilles Current, northward surface Ekman transport and southward thermocline recirculation, all of which are generally considered to be part of the wind-driven circulation. Southward flowing deep waters below 1100 m depth are usually considered to represent the buoyancy-driven circulation. We argue that the Gulf Stream is partially wind-driven but also partially buoyancy-driven as it returns upper waters upwelled in the global ocean back to water mass formation regions in the northern Atlantic. Seasonal to interannual variations in the circulation at 26°N are principally wind-driven. Variability in the buoyancy-driven circulation occurred in a sharp reduction in 2009 in the southward flow of Lower North Atlantic Deep Water when its transport decreased by 30% from pre-2009 values. Over the 14-year observational period from 2004 to 2018, the AMOC declined by 2.4 Sv from 18.3 to 15.9 Sv. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bryden, Harry L. |
spellingShingle |
Bryden, Harry L. Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
author_facet |
Bryden, Harry L. |
author_sort |
Bryden, Harry L. |
title |
Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical north atlantic ocean |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/1/rspa.2021.0172_1_.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/455125/1/rspa.2021.0172_1_.pdf Bryden, Harry L. (2021) Wind-driven and buoyancy-driven circulation in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 477 (2256). (doi:10.1098/rspa.2021.0172 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2021.0172>). |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2021.0172 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
container_volume |
477 |
container_issue |
2256 |
_version_ |
1784275532916981760 |