Pronounced centennial-scale Atlantic Ocean climate variability correlated with Western Hemisphere hydroclimate

Thirumalai, Kaustubh; Quinn, Terrence M.; Okumura, Yuko; Richey, Julie N.; Partin, Judson W.; Poore, Richard Z.; Moreno-Chamarro, Eduardo

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02846-4

i

Pronounced centennial-scale Atlantic Ocean climate variability correlated with Western Hemisphere hydroclimate

2018
By Thirumalai, Kaustubh ; Quinn, Terrence M. ; Okumura, Yuko ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Nature Communications
Personal Author:

Thirumalai, Kaustubh ; Quinn, Terrence M. ; Okumura, Yuko ; Richey, Julie N. ; Partin, Judson W. ; Poore, Richard Z. ; Moreno-Chamarro, Eduardo
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
Description:

Surface-ocean circulation in the northern Atlantic Ocean influences Northern Hemisphere climate. Century-scale circulation variability in the Atlantic Ocean, however, is poorly constrained due to insufficiently-resolved paleoceanographic records. Here we present a replicated reconstruction of sea-surface temperature and salinity from a site sensitive to North Atlantic circulation in the Gulf of Mexico which reveals pronounced centennial-scale variability over the late Holocene. We find significant correlations on these timescales between salinity changes in the Atlantic, a diagnostic parameter of circulation, and widespread precipitation anomalies using three approaches: multiproxy synthesis, observational datasets, and a transient simulation. Our results demonstrate links between centennial changes in northern Atlantic surface-circulation and hydroclimate changes in the adjacent continents over the late Holocene. Notably, our findings reveal that weakened surface-circulation in the Atlantic Ocean was concomitant with well-documented rainfall anomalies in the Western Hemisphere during the Little Ice Age.
Keywords:

Ocean-atmosphere Interaction Paleoclimatology Ocean-atmosphere Interaction
Source:

Nature Communications 9 (392)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-02846-4
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC5786086
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. Na16oar4310177
Place as Subject:

Atlantic Ocean
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

PMC
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:5690354836e3714b2728ba9348e254cf301ce3653b7e1f5e450192e8e19bd7354644b59b9ad24716dbed1b389feed71c5e2d75eb4e17b1efdd7bf7587dfd55c6
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/24131/noaa_24131_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 3.97 MB ]

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