Poleward shift in ventilation of the North Atlantic subtropical underwater
Date
2018-01-15Metadata
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9547As published
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075772DOI
10.1002/2017GL075772Keyword
North Atlantic salinity maximum; Subtropical underwater; Poleward expansion; Ventilation; Decadal variabilityAbstract
We report the findings that the sea surface salinity maximum (SSS-max) in the North Atlantic has poleward expanded in recent decades and that the expansion is a main driver of the decadal changes in subtropical underwater (STUW). We present observational evidence that the STUW ventilation zone (marked by the location of the 36.7 isohaline) has been displaced northward by1.2 ± 0.36° latitude for the 34 year (1979–2012) period. As a result of the redistribution of the SSS-max water, the ventilation zone has shifted northward and expanded westward into the Sargasso Sea. The ventilation rate of STUW has increased, which is attributed to the increased lateral induction of the sloping mixed layer. STUW has become broader, deeper, and saltier, and the changes are most pronounced on the northern and western edges of the high-saline core.
Description
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 45 (2018): 258–266, doi:10.1002/2017GL075772.
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Geophysical Research Letters 45 (2018): 258–266Related items
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