Search for: All records

Abstract Using the Roemmich‐Gilson Argo data set, this study investigates variability of the Subtropical Underwater (STUW) and eastern Subtropical Mode Water (ESTMW) in the South Pacific during 2004–2020. The STUW volume decreased during 2004–2013 and increased during 2013–2020, while the volume of the ESTMW shows the opposite phase. On interannual time scales, there is also a significant negative correlation in volume between the STUW and ESTMW. This anti‐phase relationship is attributed to changes in their volumetric subduction rates, which are in turn closely related to variability in the mixed layer depth (MLD). ENSO directly contributes to variability of the subduction rates by modifying the MLD. Equatorward propagation of spiciness anomalies is identified along isopycnal surfaces of the STUW and ESTMW cores. These spiciness anomalies in the downstream region are correlated with changes in volume of both water masses, and significant spiciness anomalies can reach the tropical Pacific. 

Abstract Both a quasi‐biennial variability and an overall linearly increasing trend are identified in the Sub‐Antarctic Mode Water (SAMW) subduction rate across the Southern Hemisphere ocean, using the Argo data during 2005–2019. The quasi‐biennial variability is mainly due to variability of the mixed layer depth. Variability of wind stress curl in the SAMW formation regions associated with the Southern Annular Mode plays a critical role in generating the quasi‐biennial variability of the mixed layer depth and consequently the SAMW subduction rates. The SAMW subduction rate across the Southern Hemisphere ocean, long‐term mean totaling 56 Sv, has increased at 0.73 ± 0.65 Sv year⁻¹over the past 15 years. The increase has directly contributed to the observed increase in the total SAMW volume. Much of this increasing trend can be explained by the deepening mixed layers, which in turn are primarily forced by the strengthening westerly winds under an increasing Southern Annular Mode. 

Abstract This study investigates the variability of the Southern Hemisphere super gyre (SHSG), using remotely sensed altimeter measurements, in situ Argo observations, and results from an ocean state estimate of the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean. Analyses of altimeter data show large trends of sea surface height, and their positive‐negative contrast suggests a strengthening of subtropical gyres in all the three Southern Hemisphere oceans since 1993. Analyses of Argo data and the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean estimate indicate that these dynamic signals of southern subtropical gyres extend to at least 2,000 m. The three southern subtropical gyres are interconnected through the Tasman and Agulhas leakages and vary consistently during the period 1993–2016. The Tasman and Agulhas leakages also show an increasing trend of inter‐ocean water exchange with a typical increase of ~2 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³/s) per decade, indicative of a two‐decade‐long spin‐up of the SHSG. The strengthening and poleward shift of westerly winds are associated with an increasing southern annular mode, which affect the midlatitude and high‐latitude Southern Hemisphere oceans and contribute to the spin‐up of the SHSG.