Atlantic origin of asynchronous European interdecadal hydroclimate variability
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. Her...
| Published in: | Scientific Reports |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Other Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3717303 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47428-6 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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