Meridional heat transport variability induced by mesoscale processes in the subpolar North Atlantic

Zhao, Jian; Bower, Amy; Yang, Jiayan; Lin, Xiaopei; Holliday, N. Penny ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9733-8002. 2018 Meridional heat transport variability induced by mesoscale processes in the subpolar North Atlantic. Nature Communications, 9 (1). 10.1038/s41467-018-03134-x

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Abstract/Summary

The ocean’s role in global climate change largely depends on its heat transport. Therefore, understanding the oceanic meridional heat transport (MHT) variability is a fundamental issue. Prevailing observational and modeling evidence suggests that MHT variability is primarily determined by the large-scale ocean circulation. Here, using new in situ observations in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic Ocean and an eddy-resolving numerical model, we show that energetic mesoscale eddies with horizontal scales of about 10–100 km profoundly modulate MHT variability on time scales from intra-seasonal to interannual. Our results reveal that the velocity changes due to mesoscale processes produce substantial variability for the MHT regionally (within sub-basins) and the subpolar North Atlantic as a whole. The findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms for poleward heat transport variability in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean, a key region for heat and carbon sequestration, ice–ocean interaction, and biological productivity.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41467-018-03134-x
ISSN:	2041-1723
Date made live:	29 Oct 2019 16:54 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525502

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