Search for: All records

Abstract The North Atlantic Current (NAC) is a major source of heat toward the subpolar gyre and northern seas. However, its variability and drivers are not well understood. Here, we evaluated 8 years of continuous daily measurements as part of the international program Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program to investigate the NAC in the Iceland Basin. We found that the NAC volume and freshwater anomaly transport and heat content (HC) were highly variable with significant variability at timescales of 16–120 days to annual. Intraseasonal to short interannual variability was associated with mesoscale and intermittent mesoscale features abundant in the region. Composites analysis revealed that strong NAC periods were associated with less eddy kinetic energy in the Iceland Basin, which was consistent with the presence of frontal‐like structures instead of eddy‐like structures. On longer timescales, the westward migration of the eastern boundary of the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) gyre favors a stronger NAC volume transport and HC in the region. Stronger zonal wind stress triggers a fast response that piles water up between the SPNA and subtropical gyres, which increases the sea surface height gradient and drives the acceleration of the NAC. The strengthening of the NAC increases the heat and salt transport northward. During our study period, both heat and salt increased across the moorings. These observations are important for understanding the heat and freshwater variability in the SPNA, which ultimately impacts the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. 

Abstract Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) has drawn extensive attention due to its impact on the global redistribution of heat and freshwater. Here we present the latest time series (2014–2022) of the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program and characterize MOC interannual variability. We find that any single boundary current captures ∼30% of subpolar MOC interannual variability. However, to fully resolve MOC variability, a wide swath across the eastern subpolar basin is needed; in the Labrador Sea both boundaries are needed. Through a volume budget analysis for the subpolar basins' lower limbs, we estimate the magnitude of unresolved processes (e.g., diapycnal mixing) required to close the mean budget (∼2 Sv). We find that in the eastern subpolar basin surface‐forced transformation variability is linked to lower limb volume variability, which translates to MOC changes within the same year. In contrast, this linkage is weak in the Labrador Sea.