The Canary Basin contribution to the seasonal cycle of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26°N

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Perez-Hernandez, M. Dolores, McCarthy, Gerard D., Velez-Belchi, Pedro, Smeed, David A., Fraile-Nuez, Eugenio, Hernandez-Guerra, Alonso
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2015
• Subjects: AMOC; Canary Basin; Eastern boundary; North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre; RAPID; EBC; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7782

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 (2015): 7237–7252, doi:10.1002/2015JC010969. This study examines the seasonal cycle of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and its eastern boundary contributions. The cycle has a magnitude of 6 Sv, as measured by the RAPID/MOCHA/WBTS project array at 26°N, which is driven largely by the eastern boundary. The eastern boundary variations are explored in the context of the regional circulation around the Canary Islands. There is a 3 month lag between maximum wind forcing and the largest eastern boundary transports, which is explained in terms of a model for Rossby wave generated at the eastern boundary. Two dynamic processes take place through the Lanzarote Passage (LP) in fall: the recirculation of the Canary Current and the northward flow of the Intermediate Poleward Undercurrent. In contrast, during the remaining seasons the transport through the LP is southward due to the Canary Upwelling Current. These processes are linked to the seasonal cycle of the AMOC. The first author would like to thank the Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI) grant program of Apoyo al Personal Investigador en Formación. This study has been performed as part of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía RAPROCAN Project, and as part of the SeVaCan project (CTM2013-48695) from the Ministerio de Economía y Competividad. The 26°N array is a collaborative effort supported through the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) RAPID-WATCH program, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Meridional Overturning Circulation Heat-flux Array project, and the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Boundary Time Series project. 2016-05-07