Erik van Sebille, physical oceanographer
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Impact of Agulhas Leakage on the Atlantic overturning circulation in the CCSM4

Wilbert Weijer and Erik van Sebille
In Journal of Climate, 2014, volume 27, pages 101-110 doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00714.1.
Links: Journal Website Home page Other peer-reviewed articles

Abstract

In this paper we address the impact of Agulhas Leakage variability on the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation in the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4). In this model there is no identifiable impact of Agulhas Leakage on the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. However, an advective connection exists that transports salinity anomalies from the Agulhas region into the North Atlantic on decadal (30-40 yr) time scales. We show that salinity variability in the southeastern South Atlantic is much weaker in the CCSM4 than in observations. This is plausibly a consequence of a bias in the mean salinity distribution, in particular the absence of the observed salinity front in the Agulhas Retroflection region. It is suggested that these basins are too homogeneous due to the bias in volume exchange between the South Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
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