The role of subtropical mode waters in the variability of meridional heat transport in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre
- 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
- 2Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, USA
- 3Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA, Miami, USA
- 4Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, University of Miami, Miami, USA
- 5Norwegian Research Centre, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
The AMOC is usually defined as the maximum of the overturning streamfunction. The time series produced by the RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS observing array uses a streamfunction calculated in depth space. Using data from the RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS array along with additional data from the WBTS sections in the Florida Straits and other hydrographic data, we have made a time series of the overturning streamfunction calculated in density space. The streamfunction in density space reveals the shallow overturning cell associated with subtropical mode waters (STMW) that is obscured in the depth-space streamfunction. The time series of the data also reveal that inter-annual variability in the amount of STMW in the Florida Straits is linked to changes in meridional heat transport.
How to cite: Smeed, D. A., Johns, W. E., Smith, R. H., Rayner, D., Volkov, D. L., Elipot, S., Petit, T., Kajtar, J. B., McDonagh, E. L., and Moat, B.: The role of subtropical mode waters in the variability of meridional heat transport in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6046, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6046, 2024.
