scholarly journals Signature of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in sea level along the east coast of North America

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory J. Bingham ◽  
Chris W. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

scholarly journals The Relationship Between U.S. East Coast Sea Level and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: A Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (9) ◽  
pp. 6435-6458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Little ◽  
Aixue Hu ◽  
Chris W. Hughes ◽  
Gerard D. McCarthy ◽  
Christopher G. Piecuch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Regional Patterns of Sea Level Change Related to Interannual Variability and Multidecadal Trends in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation*

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (15) ◽  
pp. 4243-4254 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lorbacher ◽  
J. Dengg ◽  
C. W. Böning ◽  
A. Biastoch
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Model Experiments ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract Some studies of ocean climate model experiments suggest that regional changes in dynamic sea level could provide a valuable indicator of trends in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). This paper describes the use of a sequence of global ocean–ice model experiments to show that the diagnosed patterns of sea surface height (SSH) anomalies associated with changes in the MOC in the North Atlantic (NA) depend critically on the time scales of interest. Model hindcast simulations for 1958–2004 reproduce the observed pattern of SSH variability with extrema occurring along the Gulf Stream (GS) and in the subpolar gyre (SPG), but they also show that the pattern is primarily related to the wind-driven variability of MOC and gyre circulation on interannual time scales; it is reflected also in the leading EOF of SSH variability over the NA Ocean, as described in previous studies. The pattern, however, is not useful as a “fingerprint” of longer-term changes in the MOC: as shown with a companion experiment, a multidecadal, gradual decline in the MOC [of 5 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) over 5 decades] induces a much broader, basin-scale SSH rise over the mid-to-high-latitude NA, with amplitudes of 20 cm. The detectability of such a trend is low along the GS since low-frequency SSH changes are effectively masked here by strong variability on shorter time scales. More favorable signal-to-noise ratios are found in the SPG and the eastern NA, where a MOC trend of 0.1 Sv yr−1 would leave a significant imprint in SSH already after about 20 years.

scholarly journals How is New England Coastal Sea Level Related to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26° N?

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 5351-5360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Piecuch ◽  
Sönke Dangendorf ◽  
Glen G. Gawarkiewicz ◽  
Christopher M. Little ◽  
Rui M. Ponte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Meridional Overturning

scholarly journals Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 251601921987856
Author(s):  
L Bruce Railsback
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Atmospheric Precipitation ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
The North ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The North Atlantic

Previous research has shown that nations that controlled global-scale empires over the most recent centuries and presently possess great per-capita wealth are in Earth’s two largest regions of regular moderate rainfall. That rainfall regime is the pattern of atmospheric precipitation most supportive of agriculture and water-wheel-powered industry, both of which presumably contributed to those nations’ advancement. Those regions of regular moderate rainfall ring the North Atlantic, and this article reviews the evidence that the Gulf Stream delivers warm vapor-releasing water in the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, generating the distinctive climate of western Europe and eastern North America. Ocean circulation’s control on continental climate has thus contributed significantly to the Euro-American concentration of wealth and geopolitical power that has dominated the last few centuries of human history. However, comparison of the present apparent weakening or failure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with both the early Holocene 8.2 ka event and modeling of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s diminished generation of water vapor suggests that Europe and eastern North America may lose their beneficent climate pattern as rainfall there lessens.

scholarly journals Twentieth century Atlantic meridional overturning circulation as an indicator of global ocean multidecadal variability: influences on sea level anomalies and small pelagic fishery synchronies

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-468
Author(s):  
Daniel Kamykowski
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Mesoscale Eddies ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Planetary Waves ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Sea Level Anomalies ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
Pelagic Fishery

Abstract The Atlantic dipole phosphate utilization (ADPU) index, derived through statistical conversion of 20th century Atlantic basin subpolar sea surface temperatures, is used as a fingerprint of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability and as an indicator of global Meridional Overturing Circulation (MOC) variability. ADPU index correlations with differences in sea level anomalies (SLAs) between Canada and the UK and across the Isthmus of Panama demonstrate intrabasin and interbasin associations with MOC variability. Cross-correlation analyses of ADPU index, SLAs, and sardine (S) and anchovy (A) catch differences [S −A] (normalized sardine catch minus normalized anchovy catch) confirm strong correlations between ADPU and [S −A] off Japan, California, Peru and Southwest Africa (Benguela). Statistically significant cross correlations also exist between the ADPU index and SLAs for Japan, California, Peru and Benguela, and for SLAs and [S − A] for Japan, California and Peru, but the short time-series lengths compared with the length of the multidecadal cycle limit the interpretation of the observed lead-lags. Though correlation is not causality, the correlation analyses developed here are useful in support of hypothesis generation. The proposed hypothesis to explain the observed small pelagic fishery synchronies asserts: (i) ocean bathymetry and continental distributions interact with multidecadal variations in MOC strength that occur along the conceptual global conveyor belt to generate changes in global oceanic planetary waves and mesoscale eddies that propagate through the world ocean; (ii) each small pelagic fishery region has a unique spatial relationship with pertinent oceanic planetary wave and mesoscale eddy source regions that affect the timing and strength of the waves and eddies that influence the nearby boundary current; (iii) synchronous changes or phasing among global fisheries depend on how and when MOC variability mediated by oceanic planetary waves and mesoscale eddies reaches each fishery region; (iv) oceanic planetary waves and/or mesoscale eddies influence the strength or meandering of the boundary current adjacent to a small pelagic fishery region to change local SLAs and environmental conditions to favour sardine or anchovy populations at different times.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at Interannual-to-Multidecadal Time Scales

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1929-1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Grégorio ◽  
Thierry Penduff ◽  
Guillaume Sérazin ◽  
Jean-Marc Molines ◽  
Bernard Barnier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Intrinsic Variability ◽  
Meridional Heat Transport ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Spectral Peaks ◽  
Meridional Overturning

AbstractThe low-frequency variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is investigated from 2, ¼°, and ° global ocean–sea ice simulations, with a specific focus on its internally generated (i.e., “intrinsic”) component. A 327-yr climatological ¼° simulation, driven by a repeated seasonal cycle (i.e., a forcing devoid of interannual time scales), is shown to spontaneously generate a significant fraction R of the interannual-to-decadal AMOC variance obtained in a 50-yr “fully forced” hindcast (with reanalyzed atmospheric forcing including interannual time scales). This intrinsic variance fraction R slightly depends on whether AMOCs are computed in geopotential or density coordinates, and on the period considered in the climatological simulation, but the following features are quite robust when mesoscale eddies are simulated (at both ¼° and ° resolutions); R barely exceeds 5%–10% in the subpolar gyre but reaches 30%–50% at 34°S, up to 20%–40% near 25°N, and 40%–60% near the Gulf Stream. About 25% of the meridional heat transport interannual variability is attributed to intrinsic processes at 34°S and near the Gulf Stream. Fourier and wavelet spectra, built from the 327-yr ¼° climatological simulation, further indicate that spectral peaks of intrinsic AMOC variability (i) are found at specific frequencies ranging from interannual to multidecadal, (ii) often extend over the whole meridional scale of gyres, (iii) stochastically change throughout these 327 yr, and (iv) sometimes match the spectral peaks found in the fully forced hindcast in the North Atlantic. Intrinsic AMOC variability is also detected at multidecadal time scales, with a marked meridional coherence between 35°S and 25°N (15–30 yr periods) and throughout the whole basin (50–90-yr periods).

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