Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation covaries with Agulhas leakage.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26656850.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms10082 and PMC identifier 4682045.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The interoceanic transfer of seawater between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, 'Agulhas leakage', forms a choke point for the overturning circulation in the global ocean. Here, by combining output from a series of high-resolution ocean and climate models with in situ and satellite observations, we construct a time series of Agulhas leakage for the period 1870-2014. The time series demonstrates the impact of Southern Hemisphere westerlies on decadal timescales. Agulhas leakage shows a correlation with the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation on multi-decadal timescales; the former leading by 15 years. This is relevant for climate in the North Atlantic.