Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea
The dense waters formed by wintertime convection in the Labrador Sea play a key role in setting the properties of the deep Atlantic Ocean. To understand how variability in their production might affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variability, it is essential to determine p...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Language: | English |
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2021
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Online Access: | http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 |
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fttudelft:oai:tudelft.nl:uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac 2024-02-11T10:02:50+01:00 Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea Georgiou, S. (author) Ypma, S.L. (author) Brüggemann, N. (author) Sayol España, J.M. (author) van der Boog, C.G. (author) Spence, P. (author) Pietrzak, J.D. (author) Katsman, C.A. (author) 2021 http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 en eng http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101372145&partnerID=8YFLogxK Journal Of Geophysical Research-Oceans--2169-9275--d54e148e-5eef-457f-bce5-fd13675f227e http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 © 2021 S. Georgiou, S.L. Ypma, N. Brüggemann, J.M. Sayol España, C.G. van der Boog, P. Spence, J.D. Pietrzak, C.A. Katsman AMOC Labrador Sea Lagrangian pathways boundary-interior exchanges journal article 2021 fttudelft https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 2024-01-24T23:31:40Z The dense waters formed by wintertime convection in the Labrador Sea play a key role in setting the properties of the deep Atlantic Ocean. To understand how variability in their production might affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variability, it is essential to determine pathways and associated timescales of their export. In this study, we analyze the trajectories of Argo floats and of Lagrangian particles launched at 53°N in the boundary current and traced backward in time in a high-resolution model, to identify and quantify the importance of upstream pathways. We find that 85% of the transport carried by the particles at 53°N originates from Cape Farewell, and it is split between a direct route that follows the boundary current and an indirect route involving boundary-interior exchanges. Although both routes contribute roughly equally to the maximum overturning, the indirect route governs its signal in denser layers. This indirect route has two branches: part of the convected water is exported rapidly on the Labrador side of the basin and part follows a longer route toward Greenland and is then carried with the boundary current. Export timescales of these two branches typically differ by 2.5 years. This study thus shows that boundary-interior exchanges are important for the pathways and the properties of water masses arriving at 53°N. It reveals a complex three-dimensional view of the convected water export, with implications for the arrival time of signals of variability therein at 53°N and thus for our understanding of the AMOC. Physical and Space Geodesy Environmental Fluid Mechanics Article in Journal/Newspaper Cape Farewell Greenland Labrador Sea Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository Greenland Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Delft University of Technology: Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
fttudelft |
language |
English |
topic |
AMOC Labrador Sea Lagrangian pathways boundary-interior exchanges |
spellingShingle |
AMOC Labrador Sea Lagrangian pathways boundary-interior exchanges Georgiou, S. (author) Ypma, S.L. (author) Brüggemann, N. (author) Sayol España, J.M. (author) van der Boog, C.G. (author) Spence, P. (author) Pietrzak, J.D. (author) Katsman, C.A. (author) Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
topic_facet |
AMOC Labrador Sea Lagrangian pathways boundary-interior exchanges |
description |
The dense waters formed by wintertime convection in the Labrador Sea play a key role in setting the properties of the deep Atlantic Ocean. To understand how variability in their production might affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variability, it is essential to determine pathways and associated timescales of their export. In this study, we analyze the trajectories of Argo floats and of Lagrangian particles launched at 53°N in the boundary current and traced backward in time in a high-resolution model, to identify and quantify the importance of upstream pathways. We find that 85% of the transport carried by the particles at 53°N originates from Cape Farewell, and it is split between a direct route that follows the boundary current and an indirect route involving boundary-interior exchanges. Although both routes contribute roughly equally to the maximum overturning, the indirect route governs its signal in denser layers. This indirect route has two branches: part of the convected water is exported rapidly on the Labrador side of the basin and part follows a longer route toward Greenland and is then carried with the boundary current. Export timescales of these two branches typically differ by 2.5 years. This study thus shows that boundary-interior exchanges are important for the pathways and the properties of water masses arriving at 53°N. It reveals a complex three-dimensional view of the convected water export, with implications for the arrival time of signals of variability therein at 53°N and thus for our understanding of the AMOC. Physical and Space Geodesy Environmental Fluid Mechanics |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Georgiou, S. (author) Ypma, S.L. (author) Brüggemann, N. (author) Sayol España, J.M. (author) van der Boog, C.G. (author) Spence, P. (author) Pietrzak, J.D. (author) Katsman, C.A. (author) |
author_facet |
Georgiou, S. (author) Ypma, S.L. (author) Brüggemann, N. (author) Sayol España, J.M. (author) van der Boog, C.G. (author) Spence, P. (author) Pietrzak, J.D. (author) Katsman, C.A. (author) |
author_sort |
Georgiou, S. (author) |
title |
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
title_short |
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
title_full |
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
title_fullStr |
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Convected Water Masses and Their impacts on the Overturning Dynamics of the Labrador Sea |
title_sort |
direct and indirect pathways of convected water masses and their impacts on the overturning dynamics of the labrador sea |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Cape Farewell Greenland Labrador Sea |
genre_facet |
Cape Farewell Greenland Labrador Sea |
op_relation |
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101372145&partnerID=8YFLogxK Journal Of Geophysical Research-Oceans--2169-9275--d54e148e-5eef-457f-bce5-fd13675f227e http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b751e642-4e57-43c0-8942-9c1669115dac https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 |
op_rights |
© 2021 S. Georgiou, S.L. Ypma, N. Brüggemann, J.M. Sayol España, C.G. van der Boog, P. Spence, J.D. Pietrzak, C.A. Katsman |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016654 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
126 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1790598914648309760 |