A multimodel comparison of centennial Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability

A mechanism contributing to centennial variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is tested with multi-millennial control simulations of several coupled general circulation models (CGCMs). These are a substantially extended integration of the 3rd Hadley Centre Coupled Clim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climate Dynamics
Main Authors: Menary, Matthew B., Park, Wonsun, Lohmann, Katja, Vellinga, Michael, Palmer, Matthew D., Latif, Mojib, Jungclaus, Johann H.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
AMOC
Centennial variability
ITCZ
MOC
North Atlantic
Overturning
Iceland
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1983/b1804a0e-d820-433b-9ace-1ce59784ecac
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/b1804a0e-d820-433b-9ace-1ce59784ecac
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-011-1172-4
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861806749&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Description
Summary:A mechanism contributing to centennial variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is tested with multi-millennial control simulations of several coupled general circulation models (CGCMs). These are a substantially extended integration of the 3rd Hadley Centre Coupled Climate Model (HadCM3), the Kiel Climate Model (KCM), and the Max Plank Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM). Significant AMOC variability on time scales of around 100 years is simulated in these models. The centennial mechanism links changes in the strength of the AMOC with oceanic salinities and surface temperatures, and atmospheric phenomena such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). 2 of the 3 models reproduce all aspects of the mechanism, with the third (MPI-ESM) reproducing most of them. A comparison with a high resolution paleo-proxy for Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) north of Iceland over the last 4,000 years, also linked to the ITCZ, suggests that elements of this mechanism may also be detectable in the real world.

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