scholarly journals Variability and trends of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Drouin ◽  
M. S. Lozier ◽  
W. E. Johns
Keyword(s):  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The South

scholarly journals Meridional changes in the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre during Heinrich Stadials

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tainã M. L. Pinho ◽  
Cristiano M. Chiessi ◽  
Rodrigo C. Portilho-Ramos ◽  
Marília C. Campos ◽  
Stefano Crivellari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Climate System ◽  
The South ◽  
Foraminiferal Species ◽  
Ocean Gyres ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring

AbstractSubtropical ocean gyres play a key role in modulating the global climate system redistributing energy between low and high latitudes. A poleward displacement of the subtropical gyres has been observed over the last decades, but the lack of long-term monitoring data hinders an in-depth understanding of their dynamics. Paleoceanographic records offer the opportunity to identify meridional changes in the subtropical gyres and investigate their consequences to the climate system. Here we use the abundance of planktonic foraminiferal species Globorotalia truncatulinodes from a sediment core collected at the northernmost boundary of the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (SASG) together with a previously published record of the same species from the southernmost boundary of the SASG to reconstruct meridional fluctuations of the SASG over last ca. 70 kyr. Our findings indicate southward displacements of the SASG during Heinrich Stadials (HS) 6-4 and HS1, and a contraction of the SASG during HS3 and HS2. During HS6-4 and HS1, the SASG southward displacements likely boosted the transfer of heat to the Southern Ocean, ultimately strengthening deep-water upwelling and CO2 release to the atmosphere. We hypothesize that the ongoing SASG poleward displacement may further increase oceanic CO2 release.

scholarly journals South Atlantic Surface Boundary Current System during the Last Millennium in the CESM-LME: The Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 299
Author(s):  
Fernanda Marcello ◽  
Ilana Wainer ◽  
Peter R. Gent ◽  
Bette L. Otto-Bliesner ◽  
Esther C. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
South American ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
The South ◽  
Gyre Circulation

Interocean waters that are carried northward through South Atlantic surface boundary currents get meridionally split between two large-scale systems when meeting the South American coast at the western subtropical portion of the basin. This distribution of the zonal flow along the coast is investigated during the Last Millennium, when natural forcing was key to establish climate variability. Of particular interest are the changes between the contrasting periods of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). The investigation is conducted with the simulation results from the Community Earth System Model Last Millennium Ensemble (CESM-LME). It is found that the subtropical South Atlantic circulation pattern differs substantially between these natural climatic extremes, especially at the northern boundary of the subtropical gyre, where the westward-flowing southern branch of the South Equatorial Current (sSEC) bifurcates off the South American coast, originating the equatorward-flowing North Brazil Undercurrent (NBUC) and the poleward Brazil Current (BC). It is shown that during the MCA, a weaker anti-cyclonic subtropical gyre circulation took place (inferred from decreased southern sSEC and BC transports), while the equatorward transport of the Meridional Overturning Circulation return flow was increased (intensified northern sSEC and NBUC). The opposite scenario occurs during the LIA: a more vigorous subtropical gyre circulation with decreased northward transport.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal patterns of C : N : P ratios in the northern Benguela upwelling system

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 885-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Flohr ◽  
A. K. van der Plas ◽  
K.-C. Emeis ◽  
V. Mohrholz ◽  
T. Rixen
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
The South ◽  
Upwelling System ◽  
Benguela Upwelling ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. On a global scale the ratio of fixed nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P) is characterized by a deficit of N with regard to the classical Redfield ratio of N : P = 16 : 1 reflecting the impact of N loss occurring in the oceanic oxygen minimum zones. The northern Benguela upwelling system (NBUS) is known for losses of N and the accumulation of P in sub- and anoxic bottom waters and sediments of the Namibian shelf resulting in low N : P ratios in the water column. To study the impact of the N : P anomalies on the regional carbon cycle and their consequences for the export of nutrients from the NBUS into the oligotrophic subtropical gyre of the South Atlantic, we measured dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), total alkalinity (AT), oxygen (O2) and nutrient concentrations in February 2011. The results indicate increased P concentrations over the Namibian shelf due to P efflux from sediments resulting in a C : N : P : -O2 ratio of 106 : 16 : 1.6 : 138. N reduction further increase C : N and reduce N : P ratios in those regions where O2 concentrations in bottom waters are < 20 μmol kg−1. However, off the shelf along the continental margin, the mean C : N : P : -O2 ratio is again close to the Redfield stoichiometry. Additional nutrient data measured during two cruises in 2008 and 2009 imply that the amount of excess P, which is created in the bottom waters on the shelf, and its export into the subtropical gyre after upwelling varies through time. The results further reveal an inter-annual variability of excess N within the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) that flows from the north into the NBUS, with highest N values observed in 2008. It is postulated that the N excess in SACW occurred due to the impact of remineralized organic matter produced by N2 fixation and that the magnitude of excess P formation and its export is governed by inputs of excess N along with SACW flowing into the NBUS. Factors controlling N2 fixation north of the BUS need to be addressed in future studies to better understand the role of the NBUS as a P source and N sink in the coupled C : N : P cycles.

A Lagrangian view of the transfer of Southern waters to the South Atlantic Ocean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Olivé Abelló ◽  
Josep L. Pelegrí ◽  
Ignasi Vallès-Casanova
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Drake Passage ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
Brazil Current ◽  
North Brazil ◽  
North Brazil Current

&lt;p&gt;The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a key component of the Earth's climate system, is sustained through the northward transport of Southern Ocean waters to high latitudes. This returning limb of the AMOC consists largely of relatively cold waters entering from the Pacific Ocean through the Drake Passage, what is commonly referred to as cold-water route. Here, we explore the pathways and transit times of these Antarctic waters that are incorporated to the South Atlantic, with special attention to their recirculation in the subtropical gyre and their escape northward through the North Brazil Current. For this purpose, we use daily values of the climatological GLORYS12v1 velocity field, as obtained using data for 2002-2018 and track the trajectories with the help of the OceanParcels software. We trace the particles transiting through four sections in the Southern and South Atlantic Oceans: 64&amp;#176;W and 27&amp;#176;E, crossing entire Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) through the Drake Passage and off South Africa, respectively; 32&amp;#176;S, from the African coast out to 5&amp;#176;S, sampling the eastern boundary current system; and 21&amp;#176;S, from the American coast out to 30&amp;#176;W, sampling the North Brazil Current.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Particles are released daily in the Drake Passage down to 1800 m during one full year, its spatial distribution and number being proportional to the transport crossing each vertical portion of the section. This represents an annual-mean of 116.3 Sv entering the Atlantic sector through the Drake Passage, split into 13.3 Sv for surface (Subantarctic Surface Water, SASW, and Subantarctic Mode Water, SAMW), 40.2 Sv for intermediate (Antarctic Surface Water, AASW, and Antarctic Intermediate Water, AAIW) and 62.8 Sv for deep (Upper Circumpolar Deep Water, UCDW) water masses. The particles are then tracked forward, with a one-day resolution, during 20 years. The simulation shows that about 83% of the SASW/SAMW transport follow the ACC past South Africa while the remaining 17% are incorporated to the subtropical gyre. Among the latter, only 13% veer northward and cross the 21&amp;#176;S section. Regarding the intermediate waters, AASW/AAIW, 93% of transport follows the ACC, and 7% join the subtropical gyre. Finally, for the UCDW transport, which remains part of ACC, about 97% follow eastward as the ACC and only 3% drift cross the 32&amp;#176;S section, and only 4% of the latter reach through the 21&amp;#176;S section. The median times for the Drake Passage water particles to get to the 27&amp;#176;E, 32&amp;#176;S and 21&amp;#176;S sections are: 1.7, 2.1 and 5.7 yr for the SASW/SAMW; 2.3, 5.3 and 6.5 yr for the AASW/AAIW; and 3.3, 6.0 and 11.7 yr for the UCDW, respectively. Long tails in the age distributions reflect a high degree of recirculation, being remarkable the high presence of mesoscale eddies around 32&amp;#176;S over Cape Basin.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal patterns of C : N : P ratios in the northern Benguela upwelling regime

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 10459-10489
Author(s):  
A. Flohr ◽  
A. K. van der Plas ◽  
K.-C. Emeis ◽  
V. Mohrholz ◽  
T. Rixen
Keyword(s):  
South Atlantic ◽  
Subtropical Gyre ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
The South ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Redfield Ratio ◽  
Dissolved Carbon ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Dissolved carbon to nutrient ratios in the oceans' interior are remarkably consistent with the classical C : N : P : O2 Redfield ratio of 106 : 16 : 1 : 138 reflecting the mean composition of organic matter photosynthesized in the sunlit surface ocean. Deviations from the Redfield ratio indicate changes in the functioning of the biological carbon pump, which is driven and limited by the availability of nutrients. The northern Benguela coastal upwelling system (NBUS) is known for losses of fixed nitrogen (N = NO3–, NO2– and NH4+) and the accumulation of phosphate (P) in sub- and anoxic bottom waters and sediments of the Namibian shelf. To study the impact on the regional carbon cycle and consequences for the nutrient export from the BUS into the oligotrophic subtropical gyre of the South Atlantic Ocean we measured dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), oxygen (O2), and nutrient concentrations as well as the total alkalinity (AT) in February 2011. Our results indicate that over the Namibian shelf the C : N : P : O2 ratio decreases to 106 : 16 : 1.6 : 138 because of phosphate efflux from sediments. N reduction further increase C : N and reduce N : P ratios in those regions where O2 concentrations in bottom waters are < 20 µmol kg–1. However, off the shelf along the continental margin the mean C : N : P : O2 ratio is again close to the Redfield stoichiometry. Comparing the situation of 2011 with nutrient concentration data measured during 2 cruises in 2008 and 2009 implies that the amount of excess P that is created in the bottom waters on the shelf and its export into the subtropical gyre after upwelling varies through time. The magnitude of excess P formation and export is governed by inputs of excess N along with the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) flowing into the NBUS from the north as a poleward compensation current. Since excess N is produced by the remineralization of N-enriched biomass built up by N2-fixing organisms, factors controlling N2 fixation north of the BUS need to be addressed in future studies to better understand the NBUS' role as P source and N sink in the coupled C : N : P cycles.

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