Atlantic origin of asynchronous European interdecadal hydroclimate variability

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Zanchettin D., Toniazzo T., Taricco C., Rubinetti, Sara, Rubino A., Tartaglione N.
• Other Authors: Zanchettin, D., Toniazzo, T., Taricco, C., Rubino, A., Tartaglione, N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Settore GEO/12 - Oceanografia e Fisica dell'Atmosfera; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3717303; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47428-6

Discharge time series of major large-catchment European rivers are known to display significant decadal and interdecadal fluctuations. However, the hydroclimate variability causing such fluctuations remains poorly understood, particularly due to a lack of a spatio-temporal integrated assessment. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that European hydroclimate variability is dominated by a meridional delayed oscillation characterized by a lag of approximately 5 years in interdecadal discharge fluctuations of continental (northern) European rivers with respect to those of Euro-Mediterranean (southern) rivers. We demonstrate a connection of this coherent signal with the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic, and suggest a hitherto unexplored multiannual atmosphere-ocean mechanism in the subpolar North Atlantic at its root.