A recent decline in North Atlantic subtropical mode water formation
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | 2020-04 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Stevens Samuel W.1, 2, Johnson Rodney J.2, Maze Guillaume3, Bates Nicholas R.2, 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 2 : Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda 3 : Ifremer, University of Brest, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IFREMER, Brest, France 4 : Ocean and Earth Science Department, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source | Nature Climate Change (1758-678X) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC), 2020-04 , Vol. 10 , N. 4 , P. 335–341 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1038/s41558-020-0722-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | As a manifestation of mixing dynamics in the upper ocean, interannual and decadal variability of subtropical mode water (STMW) properties in the North Atlantic Ocean provides a valuable insight into ocean–atmosphere interaction in a changing climate. Here, we use hydrographic data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study and Hydrostation S sites near Bermuda, as well as various ocean reanalysis products, to evaluate the modern variability of STMW properties. Our study finds an 86–93% loss of STMW thickness at these sites between 2010 and 2018 and a comparable loss throughout the western subtropical gyre, culminating in the weakest STMW pentad on record. We correlate this decline with a reduction in the annual outcropping volume and northward excursions of the formation region, suggesting a gyre-wide signal of weakening STMW generation. The outcropping volume of STMW is anti-correlated with surface ocean heat content, foreshadowing future STMW loss in the face of continued warming. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full Text |
|