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Multidecadal Wind Variability Drives Temperature Shifts on the Agulhas Bank
- Source :
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124 (5). pp. 3021-3035.
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- AGU (American Geophysical Union), 2019.
-
Abstract
- Key Points: • A regional ocean model is used to examine multidecadal shelf temperature changes on the Agulhas Bank • There are distinct shelf temperature regime changes in 1966 and 1996 • These regime shifts are caused by changes in coastal upwelling linked to large-scale wind variability The Agulhas Bank is an important area for the spawning of small pelagic fish and other species. Here, within a NEMO ocean model, we investigate changes in temperature over the Bank on multidecadal time scales. In agreement with previous observational studies, a shift to colder temperatures is found in 1997. The model also simulates an earlier shift from colder to warmer temperatures in 1966. These shifts are coastally confined and shown, using a climatologically forced model run as a control, to be driven by a north‐south migration in the large‐scale wind belts, rather than by changes in downward heat fluxes or changes in the Agulhas Current itself. The zonal wind changes on the Agulhas Bank show a significant relationship with the Southern Annular Mode, showing some promise for future predictability of cold and warm regimes on the Agulhas Bank. Thus, while the Agulhas Current has been shown in previous work to have a large impact on intra‐annual and interannual temperature variability, this work shows that multidecadal variability in temperature on the shelf is likely to be wind forced.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Oceanography
01 natural sciences
Wind variability
Geophysics
13. Climate action
Space and Planetary Science
Geochemistry and Petrology
Climatology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Environmental science
Regime shift
14. Life underwater
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124 (5). pp. 3021-3035.
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....34be62b904ac665655ac38db754ede6b