Premium
Tropical Indo‐Pacific Teleconnections to Southern Ocean Mixed Layer Variability
Author(s) -
Li Qian,
England Matthew H.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl088466
Subject(s) - teleconnection , mixed layer , pacific decadal oscillation , climatology , ocean heat content , indian ocean dipole , oceanography , geology , rossby wave , ocean dynamics , el niño southern oscillation , environmental science , sea surface temperature , ocean current
The Southern Ocean plays a fundamental role in the global energy and carbon budgets via the uptake of large quantities of heat and carbon in subantarctic mode water (SAMW). Even though SAMW variability is closely tied to variations in mixed layer depth (MLD) and properties, little is known about what controls interannual to multidecadal MLD variations. Here we use atmospheric observations combined with a global 1/10° ocean‐sea ice model to examine the mechanisms controlling Southern Ocean mixed layer variability. We find that tropical teleconnections from the Indo‐Pacific to the Amundsen Sea Low via El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole control mixed layer variability along the path of a Rossby wave train across the South Pacific during early winter. This suggests recent multidecadal variations in mixed layer properties are likely to have been significantly impacted by transitions in the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation.