scholarly journals Investigating the impact of Lake Agassiz drainage routes on the 8.2 ka cold event with climate modeling

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1163-1185
Author(s):  
Y.-X. Li ◽  
H. Renssen ◽  
A. P. Wiersma ◽  
T. E. Törnqvist
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Climate Modeling ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
Cape Hatteras ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The 8.2 ka event is the most prominent abrupt climate change in the Holocene and is widely believed to result from catastrophic drainage of proglacial lakes Agassiz and Ojibway (LAO) that routed through the Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea into the North Atlantic Ocean, and perturbed Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). One key assumption of this triggering mechanism is that the LAO freshwater drainage was spread over the Labrador Sea. Recent data, however, show no evidence of lowered δ18O values from the open Labrador Sea around 8.2 ka. Instead, negative δ18O anomalies are found close to the east coast of North America, extending as far south as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, suggesting that the freshwater drainage was probably confined to a long stretch of continental shelf before fully mixing with North Atlantic Ocean water. Here we conduct a sensitivity study that examines the effects of this southerly drainage route on the 8.2 ka event with the ECBilt-CLIO-VECODE model. Hosing experiments of four different routing scenarios, where freshwater was introduced to the Labrador Sea in the northerly route (R1) and to three different locations (Grand Banks – R2, George Bank – R3, and Cape Hatteras – R4) on the southerly route, were performed with 0.45 m sea-level equivalent (SLE), 0.90 m SLE, and 1.35 m SLE of freshwater introduced over 5 years to investigate the routing effects on model responses. The modelling results show that a southerly drainage route is plausible but generally yields reduced climatic consequences in comparison to those of a northerly route. This finding implies that more freshwater would be required for a southerly route than for a northerly route to produce the same climate anomaly.

scholarly journals Investigating the impact of Lake Agassiz drainage routes on the 8.2 ka cold event with a climate model

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.-X. Li ◽  
H. Renssen ◽  
A. P. Wiersma ◽  
T. E. Törnqvist
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The 8.2 ka event is the most prominent abrupt climate change in the Holocene and is often believed to result from catastrophic drainage of proglacial lakes Agassiz and Ojibway (LAO) that routed through the Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea into the North Atlantic Ocean, and perturbed Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). One key assumption of this triggering mechanism is that the LAO freshwater drainage was dispersed over the Labrador Sea. Recent data, however, show no evidence of lowered δ18O values, indicative of low salinity, from the open Labrador Sea around 8.2 ka. Instead, negative δ18O anomalies are found close to the east coast of North America, extending as far south as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, suggesting that the freshwater drainage may have been confined to a long stretch of continental shelf before fully mixing with North Atlantic Ocean water. Here we conduct a sensitivity study that examines the effects of a southerly drainage route on the 8.2 ka event with the ECBilt-CLIO-VECODE model. Hosing experiments of four routing scenarios, where freshwater was introduced to the Labrador Sea in the northerly route and to three different locations along the southerly route, were performed to investigate the routing effects on model responses. The modeling results show that a southerly drainage route is possible but generally yields reduced climatic consequences in comparison to those of a northerly route. This finding implies that more freshwater would be required for a southerly route than for a northerly route to produce the same climate anomaly. The implicated large amount of LAO drainage for a southerly routing scenario is in line with a recent geophysical modelling study of gravitational effects on sea-level change associated with the 8.2 ka event, which suggests that the volume of drainage might be larger than previously estimated.

scholarly journals Mercury distribution and transport in the North Atlantic Ocean along the GEOTRACES-GA01 transect

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 2309-2323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Cossa ◽  
Lars-Eric Heimbürger ◽  
Fiz F. Pérez ◽  
Maribel I. García-Ibáñez ◽  
Jeroen E. Sonke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Subpolar Gyre ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract. We report here the results of total mercury (HgT) determinations along the 2014 Geotraces Geovide cruise (GA01 transect) in the North Atlantic Ocean (NA) from Lisbon (Portugal) to the coast of Labrador (Canada). HgT concentrations in unfiltered samples (HgTUNF) were log-normally distributed and ranged between 0.16 and 1.54 pmol L−1, with a geometric mean of 0.51 pmol L−1 for the 535 samples analysed. The dissolved fraction (< 0.45 µm) of HgT (HgTF), determined on 141 samples, averaged 78 % of the HgTUNF for the entire data set, 84 % for open seawaters (below 100 m) and 91 % if the Labrador Sea data are excluded, where the primary production was high (with a winter convection down to 1400 m). HgTUNF concentrations increased eastwards and with depth from Greenland to Europe and from subsurface to bottom waters. The HgTUNF concentrations were similarly low in the subpolar gyre waters ( ∼  0.45 pmol L−1), whereas they exceeded 0.60 pmol L−1 in the subtropical gyre waters. The HgTUNF distribution mirrored that of dissolved oxygen concentration, with highest concentration levels associated with oxygen-depleted zones. The relationship between HgTF and the apparent oxygen utilization confirms the nutrient-like behaviour of Hg in the NA. An extended optimum multiparameter analysis allowed us to characterize HgTUNF concentrations in the different source water types (SWTs) present along the transect. The distribution pattern of HgTUNF, modelled by the mixing of SWTs, show Hg enrichment in Mediterranean waters and North East Atlantic Deep Water and low concentrations in young waters formed in the subpolar gyre and Nordic seas. The change in anthropogenic Hg concentrations in the Labrador Sea Water during its eastward journey suggests a continuous decrease in Hg content in this water mass over the last decades. Calculation of the water transport driven by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation across the Portugal–Greenland transect indicates northward Hg transport within the upper limb and southward Hg transport within the lower limb, with resulting net northward transport of about 97.2 kmol yr−1.

scholarly journals Response of North Atlantic Ocean Circulation to Atmospheric Weather Regimes

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Barrier ◽  
Christophe Cassou ◽  
Julie Deshayes ◽  
Anne-Marie Treguier
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Subpolar Gyre ◽  
Wind Stress Curl ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Weather Regimes

Abstract A new framework is proposed for investigating the atmospheric forcing of North Atlantic Ocean circulation. Instead of using classical modes of variability, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the east Atlantic pattern, the weather regimes paradigm was used. Using this framework helped avoid problems associated with the assumptions of orthogonality and symmetry that are particular to modal analysis and known to be unsuitable for the NAO. Using ocean-only historical and sensitivity experiments, the impacts of the four winter weather regimes on horizontal and overturning circulations were investigated. The results suggest that the Atlantic Ridge (AR), negative NAO (NAO−), and positive NAO (NAO+) regimes induce a fast (monthly-to-interannual time scales) adjustment of the gyres via topographic Sverdrup dynamics and of the meridional overturning circulation via anomalous Ekman transport. The wind anomalies associated with the Scandinavian blocking regime (SBL) are ineffective in driving a fast wind-driven oceanic adjustment. The response of both gyre and overturning circulations to persistent regime conditions was also estimated. AR causes a strong, wind-driven reduction in the strengths of the subtropical and subpolar gyres, while NAO+ causes a strengthening of the subtropical gyre via wind stress curl anomalies and of the subpolar gyre via heat flux anomalies. NAO− induces a southward shift of the gyres through the southward displacement of the wind stress curl. The SBL is found to impact the subpolar gyre only via anomalous heat fluxes. The overturning circulation is shown to spin up following persistent SBL and NAO+ and to spin down following persistent AR and NAO− conditions. These responses are driven by changes in deep water formation in the Labrador Sea.

scholarly journals Dissolved iron in the North Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES section GA01)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manon Tonnard ◽  
Hélène Planquette ◽  
Andrew R. Bowie ◽  
Pier van der Merwe ◽  
Morgane Gallinari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
The North ◽  
Irminger Sea ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract. Dissolved Fe (DFe) samples from the GEOVIDE voyage (GEOTRACES GA01, May–June 2014) in the North Atlantic Ocean were analysed using a SeaFAST-picoTM coupled to an Element XR HR-ICP-MS and provided interesting insights on the Fe sources in this area. Overall, DFe concentrations ranged from 0.09 ± 0.01 nmol L−1 to 7.8 ± 0.5 nmol L−1. Elevated DFe concentrations were observed above the Iberian, Greenland and Newfoundland Margins likely due to riverine inputs from the Tagus River, meteoric water inputs and sedimentary inputs. Air-sea interactions were suspected to be responsible for the increase in DFe concentrations within subsurface waters of the Irminger Sea due to deep convection occurring the previous winter, that provided iron-to-nitrate ratios sufficient to sustain phytoplankton growth. Increasing DFe concentrations along the flow path of the Labrador Sea Water were attributed to sedimentary inputs from the Newfoundland Margin. Bottom waters from the Irminger Sea displayed high DFe concentrations likely due to the dissolution of Fe-rich particles from the Denmark Strait Overflow Water and the Polar Intermediate Water. Finally, the nepheloid layers were found to act as either a source or a sink of DFe depending on the nature of particles.

Long-term ventilation changes of Subpolar Mode Waters in the North Atlantic Ocean and its impact on the oxygen distribution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Stendardo ◽  
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli ◽  
Sara Durante
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Mode Waters ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;In the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean, Subpolar Mode Waters (SPMWs) are formed during late winter convection following the cyclonic circulation of the subpolar gyre. SPMWs participate in the upper flow of the Atlantic overturning circulation (AMOC) and provide much of the water that is eventually transformed into several components of the North Atlantic deep water (NADW), the cold, deep part of the AMOC. In a warming climate, an increase in upper ocean stratification is expected to lead to a reduced ventilation and a loss of oxygen. Thus, understanding how mode waters are affected by ventilation changes will help us to better understand the variability in the AMOC. In particular, we would like to address how the volume occupied by SPMWs has varied over the last decades due to ventilation changes, and what are the aspects driving the subpolar mode water formation, their interannual variations as well as the impact of the variability in the mixing and subduction and vertical dynamics on ocean deoxygenation. For this purpose, we use two observation-based 3D products from Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS), the ARMOR3D and the OMEGA3D datasets. The first consists of 3D temperature and salinity fields, from the surface to 1500 m depth, available weekly over a regular grid at 1/4&amp;#176; horizontal resolution from 1993 to present. The second consists of observation-based quasi-geostrophic vertical and horizontal ocean currents with the same temporal and spatial resolution as ARMOR3D.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea

Ocean Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1247-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena M. Schulze Chretien ◽  
Eleanor Frajka-Williams
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Labrador Sea is one of a small number of deep convection sites in the North Atlantic that contribute to the meridional overturning circulation. Buoyancy is lost from surface waters during winter, allowing the formation of dense deep water. During the last few decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, releasing freshwater into the high-latitude North Atlantic. This and the enhanced Arctic freshwater export in recent years have the potential to add buoyancy to surface waters, slowing or suppressing convection in the Labrador Sea. However, the impact of freshwater on convection is dependent on whether or not it can escape the shallow, topographically trapped boundary currents encircling the Labrador Sea. Previous studies have estimated the transport of freshwater into the central Labrador Sea by focusing on the role of eddies. Here, we use a Lagrangian approach by tracking particles in a global, eddy-permitting (1/12∘) ocean model to examine where and when freshwater in the surface 30 m enters the Labrador Sea basin. We find that 60 % of the total freshwater in the top 100 m enters the basin in the top 30 m along the eastern side. The year-to-year variability in freshwater transport from the shelves to the central Labrador Sea, as found by the model trajectories in the top 30 m, is dominated by wind-driven Ekman transport rather than eddies transporting freshwater into the basin along the northeast.

scholarly journals Influence of the Amazon River on dissolved and intra-cellular metal concentrations in <i>Trichodesmium</i> colonies along the western boundary of the sub-tropical North Atlantic Ocean

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Tovar-Sanchez ◽  
S. A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Amazon River ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Metal Concentrations ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
Metal Composition ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Despite the ecological importance of Trichodesmium spp. for the global oceanic nitrogen budget, there is limited information on their trace metal composition in field samples. We report dissolved (<0.22 μm) metal concentrations measured in surface waters (Ag, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, P, Pb and V) and in the total and the intracellular pool (Ag, Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, P, Pb, V) of Trichodesmium populations collected in the western subtropical North Atlantic Ocean (April–May 2003) within the influence of the Amazon River plume. Dissolved element distributions were strongly influenced by the River discharge, with concentrations of some elements varying directly (i.e. Cd, Mo and V) or inversely (Ag, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, P and Pb) with surface salinity. Intracellular metal values to phosphorous ratios (mol:mol) for Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni and V ranged from 9.0 × 10−6 for Cd to 4.4 × 10−2 for Fe. Although total metal composition was significantly correlated with the intracellular content in the Trichodesmium colonies for some elements (e.g., Co, Cu, V), metal pools in the phytoplankton did not co-vary with the dissolved metal concentrations, suggesting that water column measurements may not be good predictors of the intracellular metal concentrations. The impact of physical parameters and bioactive elements on biological processes such as nitrogen fixation, carbon drawdown and biomass production in Trichodesmium colonies was explored by using a principal component analysis test (PCA). The analysis indicated that the biological drawdown of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) by Trichodesmium seems to be influenced by the internal content of Fe, Co, Cd, and Cu, while nitrogen fixation seems more influenced by mixed layer depth and dissolved Fe and Ni concentrations.

scholarly journals Effect of a Variable Eddy Transfer Coefficient in an Eddy-Permitting Model of the Subpolar North Atlantic Ocean

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Deacu ◽  
Paul G. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Eastern North Atlantic

Abstract The effect of using a variable eddy transfer coefficient for the Gent–McWilliams (GM) parameterization in a (1/3)°-resolution ocean model of the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean is investigated. Results from four experiments with different implementations of this coefficient are compared among themselves as well as with two control experiments. A series of improvements have been obtained in all of the experiments that use a low level of explicit horizontal tracer diffusion. These include a better representation of the overflow waters originating from the Nordic seas, leading to a more realistic deep western boundary current and to increased eddy activity in the deep ocean in the eastern North Atlantic. In the same experiments, the GM velocities “help” the Labrador Sea Water to spread from the deep convection region to the currents that surround it without incurring significant spurious diapycnal mixing. Thus, two classical pathways for the spreading of this water are established. Moreover, the simulated Labrador Current and the near-surface circulation in the eastern North Atlantic are in better agreement with flow patterns inferred from observations. The increased release of available potential energy obtained in the experiments with variable eddy transfer coefficients is responsible for the simulation of a flow that varies less in time. An overly strong countercurrent still occurs in the Labrador Sea in these experiments, and it has a negative impact on the pathway of the North Atlantic Current in the “Northwest Corner” and on the hydrography of the Labrador Sea. Nonetheless and overall, the use of the variable eddy transfer coefficient has led to better representations of the general circulation and hydrography in the subpolar North Atlantic.

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