Impact of freshwater release in the Mediterranean Sea on the North Atlantic climate

• Published in: Climate Dynamics
• Main Authors: Swingedouw, Didier, Colin, Christophe, Eynaud, Frédérique, Ayache, Mohamed, Zaragosi, Sébastien
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02122482; https://hal.science/hal-02122482/document; https://hal.science/hal-02122482/file/Draft_Final_HAL.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04758-5

International audience Sediment cores from the Mediterranean Sea have evidenced several periods of Sapropel deposition, which can be explained by events of anoxic bottom conditions. An explanation for such events calls for a very stratified sea, possibly related with freshwater input through increased precipitations and runoff discharges. It has been suggested that such a stratified Mediterranean Sea may in turn weaken the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) through changes in the Mediterranean overflow water (MOW). Nevertheless, models used to establish this result were relatively simple and the mechanisms leading to such an impact remained elusive. To improve on those previous studies, we analyse the impact of different freshwater releases with rates of 0.2, 0.1, 0.05 and 0.02 Sv (1 Sv=10 6 m 3 /s) in the Mediterranean Sea using the IPSL-CM5A-LR model in a few multi-centennial simulations. We focus the analysis on the impact of a decrease in the Mediterranean overflow water (MOW) on the large-scale Atlantic circulation. We find a consistent change in horizontal currents in the upper Atlantic Ocean in all simulations in the first century, with a large enhancement of the northward current west of Rockall in the northeast Atlantic. Concerning the AMOC response, we identify three different processes that impact its fate. The first is related to changes in geostrophic currents at depth induced by the disappearance of the MOW, which tends to weaken the AMOC. On the contrary, the second enhances the AMOC and is associated with the increase in northward currents in the horizontal upper circulation. The last process is due to the spread of surface freshwater anomalies out of the Mediterranean Sea that freshens the North Atlantic convection sites and weakens the AMOC. Depending on the rate of the freshwater release, the strength and balance of these three processes are different. For rates larger than 0.05 Sv, we observe a strong reduction of the AMOC, while for lower rates, we notice an enhancement in ...