Observations, inferences, and mechanisms of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: A review
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Marshall_Observations, inferences.pdf
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7.52 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
fbe6a7d19808732eca5015fe4ea8515e
Author(s)
Buckley, Martha W.
Marshall, John C
Date Issued
February 2016
Journal
Reviews of Geophysics
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Buckley, Martha W., and John Marshall. “Observations, Inferences, and Mechanisms of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: A Review.” Reviews of Geophysics 54, no. 1 (January 26, 2016): 5–63.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This is a review about the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), its mean structure, temporal variability, controlling mechanisms, and role in the coupled climate system. The AMOC plays a central role in climate through its heat and freshwater transports. Northward ocean heat transport achieved by the AMOC is responsible for the relative warmth of the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere and is thought to play a role in setting the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone north of the equator. The AMOC is a key means by which heat anomalies are sequestered into the ocean's interior and thus modulates the trajectory of climate change. Fluctuations in the AMOC have been linked to low-frequency variability of Atlantic sea surface temperatures with a host of implications for climate variability over surrounding landmasses. On intra-annual timescales, variability in AMOC is large and primarily reflects the response to local wind forcing; meridional coherence of anomalies is limited to that of the wind field. On interannual to decadal timescales, AMOC changes are primarily geostrophic and related to buoyancy anomalies on the western boundary. A pacemaker region for decadal AMOC changes is located in a western “transition zone” along the boundary between the subtropical and subpolar gyres. Decadal AMOC anomalies are communicated meridionally from this region. AMOC observations, as well as the expanded ocean observational network provided by the Argo array and satellite altimetry, are inspiring efforts to develop decadal predictability systems using coupled atmosphere-ocean models initialized by ocean data.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RG000493
