Rain triggers seasonal stratification in a temperate shelf sea

Jardine, J. E.; Palmer, M.; Mahaffey, C.; Holt, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3298-8477; Wakelin, S. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2081-2693; Düsterhus, A.; Sharples, J.; Wihsgott, J.. 2023 Rain triggers seasonal stratification in a temperate shelf sea. Nature Communications, 14 (1). 10.1038/s41467-023-38599-y

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Abstract/Summary

The North Atlantic Storm Track acts as a conveyor belt for extratropical cyclones that frequently deliver high winds and rainfall to northwest European shelf seas. Storms are primarily considered detrimental to shelf sea stratification due to wind-driven mixing countering thermal buoyancy, but their impact on shelf scale stratification cycles remains poorly understood. Here, we show that storms trigger stratification through enhanced surface buoyancy from rainfall. A multidecadal model confirms that rainfall contributed to triggering seasonal stratification 88% of the time from 1982 to 2015. Stratification could be further modulated by large-scale climate oscillations, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), with stratification onset dates being twice as variable during a positive AMV phase than a negative one. Further insights into how changing storm activity will impact shelf seas are discussed beyond the current view of increasing wind-driven mixing, with significant implications for marine productivity and ecosystem function.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41467-023-38599-y
ISSN:	2041-1723
Date made live:	07 Jun 2023 11:35 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/534891

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