Surface and deep ocean coupling in the subpolar North Atlantic during the last 230 years

Hall, Ian Robert ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6960-1419, Boessenkool, Karin Petra, Barker, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7870-6431, McCave, I. N. and Elderfield, H. 2010. Surface and deep ocean coupling in the subpolar North Atlantic during the last 230 years. Paleoceanography 25 (2) , PA2101. 10.1029/2009PA001886

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Abstract

The subpolar North Atlantic Ocean (SPNA) is of key importance for modulating the climate of NW Europe because of heat loss to the atmosphere from the North Atlantic Current. Although hydrographic properties of the surface SPNA vary on interannual to multidecadal timescales, hydrographic time series scarcely extend back beyond the 1950s. We present a 230 year long record of SPNA surface conditions reconstructed from a very high accumulation rate core that also registers changes in deep flow speed in the Iceland Basin. A lagged correlation is observed between the records of deep flow speed and stable oxygen isotopic composition of the surface SPNA (d18Ow), with strongest correlation when the paleoflow speed record leads by 15–20 years. This offset may to some extent reflect size‐selective biological mixing of the sediment. Nonetheless, these records reveal a decadal‐scale coupling between surface and deep ocean variability over the past 230 years, possibly driven by the North Atlantic Oscillation, with implications for North Atlantic circulation and climate.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GC Oceanography Q Science > QE Geology
Additional Information:	Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/1944-9186/ (accessed 20/02/2014).
Publisher:	American Geophysical Union
ISSN:	0883-8305
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2023 07:28
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/11093

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