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Observed Ocean Bottom Temperature Variability at Four Sites in the Northwestern Argentine Basin: Evidence of Decadal Deep/Abyssal Warming Amidst Hourly to Interannual Variability During 2009–2019
Author(s) -
Meinen Christopher S.,
Perez Renellys C.,
Dong Shenfu,
Piola Alberto R.,
Campos Edmo
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 - 10.1029/2020gl089093
Subject(s) - abyssal zone , climatology , environmental science , range (aeronautics) , structural basin , sea surface temperature , sampling (signal processing) , series (stratigraphy) , global warming , geology , climate change , oceanography , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision , paleontology , materials science , composite material
Consecutive multiyear records of hourly ocean bottom temperature measurements are merged to produce new decade‐long time series at four depths ranging from 1,360 to 4,757 m within the northwest Argentine Basin at 34.5°S. Energetic temperature variations are found at a wide range of time scales. All sites exhibit fairly linear warming trends of approximately 0.02–0.04°C per decade over the period 2009–2019, although the trends are only statistically different from zero at the two deepest sites at depths of ~4,500–4,800 m. Near‐bottom temperatures from independent conductivity‐temperature‐depth profiles collected at these same locations every 6–24 months over the same decade show roughly consistent trends. Based on the distribution of spectral energies at the deepest sites and a Monte Carlo‐style analysis, sampling at least once per year is necessary to capture the significant warming trends over this decade to within 50% error bars at a 95% confidence limit.