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Title: Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon

Abstract

Multiple lines of evidence show that cold stadials in the North Atlantic were accompanied by both reductions in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and collapses of the West African Monsoon (WAM). Although records of terrestrial change identify abrupt WAM variability across the deglaciation, few studies show how ocean temperatures evolved across the deglaciation. To identify the mechanism linking AMOC to the WAM, we generated a new record of subsurface temperature variability over the last 21 kyr based on Mg/Ca ratios in a sub-thermocline dwelling planktonic foraminifera in an Eastern Equatorial Atlantic (EEA) sediment core from the Niger Delta. Our subsurface temperature record shows abrupt subsurface warming during both the Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich Event 1. We also conducted a new transient coupled ocean-atmosphere model simulation across the YD that better resolves the western boundary current dynamics and find a strong negative correlation between AMOC strength and EEA subsurface temperatures caused by changes in ocean circulation and rainfall responses that are consistent with the observed WAM change. Our combined proxy and modeling results provide the first evidence that an oceanic teleconnection between AMOC strength and subsurface temperature in the EEA impacted the intensity of the WAM on millennial time scales.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States)
  2. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  3. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1565678
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 7; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Citation Formats

Schmidt, Matthew W., Chang, Ping, Parker, Andrew O., Ji, Link, and He, Feng. Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15637-6.
Schmidt, Matthew W., Chang, Ping, Parker, Andrew O., Ji, Link, & He, Feng. Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-15637-6
Schmidt, Matthew W., Chang, Ping, Parker, Andrew O., Ji, Link, and He, Feng. Mon . "Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-15637-6. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1565678.
@article{osti_1565678,
title = {Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon},
author = {Schmidt, Matthew W. and Chang, Ping and Parker, Andrew O. and Ji, Link and He, Feng},
abstractNote = {Multiple lines of evidence show that cold stadials in the North Atlantic were accompanied by both reductions in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and collapses of the West African Monsoon (WAM). Although records of terrestrial change identify abrupt WAM variability across the deglaciation, few studies show how ocean temperatures evolved across the deglaciation. To identify the mechanism linking AMOC to the WAM, we generated a new record of subsurface temperature variability over the last 21 kyr based on Mg/Ca ratios in a sub-thermocline dwelling planktonic foraminifera in an Eastern Equatorial Atlantic (EEA) sediment core from the Niger Delta. Our subsurface temperature record shows abrupt subsurface warming during both the Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich Event 1. We also conducted a new transient coupled ocean-atmosphere model simulation across the YD that better resolves the western boundary current dynamics and find a strong negative correlation between AMOC strength and EEA subsurface temperatures caused by changes in ocean circulation and rainfall responses that are consistent with the observed WAM change. Our combined proxy and modeling results provide the first evidence that an oceanic teleconnection between AMOC strength and subsurface temperature in the EEA impacted the intensity of the WAM on millennial time scales.},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-017-15637-6},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 13 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Mon Nov 13 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

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Deglacial Heat Uptake by the Southern Ocean and Rapid Northward Redistribution Via Antarctic Intermediate Water
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