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A coastal upwelling seesaw in the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the closure of the Central American Seaway
Author(s) -
Prange M.,
Schulz M.
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1029/2004gl020073
Subject(s) - upwelling , oceanography , geology , seesaw molecular geometry , downwelling , zonal and meridional , climatology , ocean current , thermohaline circulation , physics , nuclear physics , neutrino
Based on coupled climate model experiments, we suggest an antiphase relationship between the two major coastal upwelling zones in the Atlantic Ocean off northwestern and southwestern Africa. We describe this as an ‘upwelling seesaw’. The state of the coastal upwelling seesaw is controlled by variations in the oceanic meridional heat transfer between South and North Atlantic. In particular, we suggest that the Pliocene closure of the Central American Seaway induced a large‐scale redistribution of heat in the Atlantic Ocean, leading to an intensification (weakening) of upwelling off southwest (northwest) Africa.