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Warming and circulation change in the eastern South Pacific Ocean
Author(s) -
Schaffer G.,
Leth O.,
Ulloa O.,
Bendtsen J.,
Daneri G.,
Dellarossa V.,
Hormazabal S.,
Sehlstedt P. I.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl010952
Subject(s) - ocean gyre , oceanography , boundary current , pacific decadal oscillation , ocean heat content , salinity , climatology , mode water , subtropics , geology , water mass , ocean current , temperature salinity diagrams , sea surface temperature , environmental science , fishery , biology
Deep‐ocean temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen observations in the eastern South Pacific Ocean collected during the late austral fall in 1995 are compared with observations made there 28 years earlier during the same season and similar El Niño‐Southern Oscillation phase. Warming observed above 800 m at 43°S reflects the production of warmer Subantarctic Mode Water in recent decades. Warming observed above 1600 m at 28°S is due to downward isotherm displacement and southward movement of water masses by 100–200 km, as revealed by joint analysis of temperature and oxygen data. Such changes would be expected for a weaker subtropical gyre in the South Pacific. An observed oxygen decrease between about 1800 m and 2900 m at 28°S may indicate enhanced southward, boundary current flow at mid‐depths off Chile.