Open AccessPotential for Atlantic current collapse confirmed
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2011eo290013
Subject(s) - north atlantic deep water , current (fluid) , gulf stream , thermohaline circulation , oceanography , geology , ocean current , shutdown of thermohaline circulation , climatology , north atlantic oscillation , atlantic multidecadal oscillation , climate system , atlantic equatorial mode , climate change
Potential for Atlantic current collapse confirmed The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a gigantic heat, salt, and nutrient mixer that spans the length of the Atlantic Ocean. Drawing warming surface waters up from the south through the Gulf Stream and along the North Atlantic Current, the system has a large amount of control over the climate of western Europe. Once in the North Atlantic, the water cools, becoming more dense and sinking to between 3000 and 5000 meters in depth before commencing a return journey south. Both paleoclimate evidence and simplified ocean circulation models suggest that the AMOC may have two stable states (either its current behavior or an “off” mode), and this has left some researchers worried that the system may experience a sudden and drastic cessation. ( Geophysical Research Letters , doi:10.1029/2011GL047208, 2011)