Recent climatic trends in the tropical Atlantic

Servain, Jacques; Caniaux, Guy; Kouadio, Yves K.; McPhaden, Michael J.; Araújo, Moacyr

doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2168-7

Cited by 69 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…2). Consistent with findings by Servain et al (2014) from mooring data of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) at 88N, 388W that the warming there was especially large at about 100-m depth, we find the strongest warming trend in the model at about 58-108N in 50-100-m depth (Fig. 2d), while the warming is weaker or not significant in the EN4 data (Fig.…”

Section: A Temperature Trends In the Tropical Atlanticsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The tropical Atlantic is characterized by the north-and southeasterly trade winds converging slightly north of the equator at the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), leading to the presence of a warm pool in the western part of the basin and upwelling regions in the eastern equatorial basin and along the coast of North and southwestern Africa. While the warming trend in the last decades is most pronounced in these equatorial and coastal upwelling sites, the wind stress that drives the oceanic upwelling has increased rather than decreased (Servain et al 2014). This trend in the local winds should favor decreasing surface temperatures, as in the tropical Pacific Ocean, where the intensification of the trade winds was indeed accompanied by a cooling trend in the eastern equatorial basin over the last 15 years, as dynamically expected (e.g., McPhaden et al 2011;Lübbecke and McPhaden 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…1a,c; cf. Servain et al 2014). A recent study by Karl et al (2015) on biases in temperature data suggests that the trend might be even larger.…”

Section: A Temperature Trends In the Tropical Atlanticmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…As this warming was not directly forced by local heat exchange with the atmosphere (Servain et al 2014), it is likely related to ocean-atmosphere dynamics. The tropical Atlantic is characterized by the north-and southeasterly trade winds converging slightly north of the equator at the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), leading to the presence of a warm pool in the western part of the basin and upwelling regions in the eastern equatorial basin and along the coast of North and southwestern Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have increased since the 1960s, in particular in the eastern part of the basin (Tokinaga and Xie 2011;Servain et al 2014). As this warming was not directly forced by local heat exchange with the atmosphere (Servain et al 2014), it is likely related to ocean-atmosphere dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contribution of Increased Agulhas Leakage to Tropical Atlantic Warming

2015

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The upper tropical Atlantic Ocean has markedly warmed since the 1960s. It has been shown that this warming was not due to local heat fluxes and that the trade winds that drive the coastal and equatorial upwelling have intensified rather than weakened. Remote forcing might thus have played an important role. Here, model experiments are used to investigate the contribution from an increased inflow of warm Indian Ocean water through Agulhas leakage. A high-resolution hindcast experiment with interannually varying forcing for the time period 1948-2007, in which Agulhas leakage increases by about 45% from the 1960s to the early 2000s, reproduces the observed warming trend. To tease out the role of Agulhas leakage, a sensitivity experiment designed to only increase Agulhas leakage is used. Compared to a control simulation, it shows a pronounced warming in the upper tropical Atlantic Ocean. A Lagrangian trajectory analysis confirms that a significant portion of Agulhas leakage water reaches the upper 300 m of the tropical Atlantic Ocean within two decades and that the tropical Atlantic warming in the sensitivity experiment is mainly due to water of Agulhas origin. Therefore, it is suggested that the increased trade winds since the 1960s favor upwelling of warmer subsurface waters, which in part originate from the Agulhas, leading to higher SSTs in the tropics.

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Section: A Temperature Trends In the Tropical Atlanticsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…1a,c; cf. Servain et al 2014). A recent study by Karl et al (2015) on biases in temperature data suggests that the trend might be even larger.…”

Section: A Temperature Trends In the Tropical Atlanticmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Contribution of Increased Agulhas Leakage to Tropical Atlantic Warming

2015

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Variations of the tropical Atlantic and Pacific SSS minimum zones and their relations to the ITCZ and SPCZ rain bands (1979-2009)

Tchilibou¹,

Delcroix

Alory

et al. 2015

J. Geophys. Res. Oceans

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This study focuses on the time‐space variability of the low Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) waters extending zonally within 2°N–12°N in the Atlantic and Pacific and within 6°S–16°S in the western third of the Pacific. The analysis is based on a combination of in situ SSS observations collected in the last three decades from voluntary observing ships, TAO/TRITON and PIRATA moorings, Argo floats, and (few) CTD profiles. The mean latitudes of the Atlantic and Pacific low SSS waters appear 1°–3° further poleward than the Evaporation minus Precipitation (E‐P) minima linked to the Inter Tropical Convergence Zones (ITCZ) and South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). At the seasonal time scale, the E‐P minima migrate poleward in summer hemispheres, leading the migration of the SSS minima by 2–3 months in the Atlantic ITCZ, Pacific SPCZ, and in the eastern part of the Pacific ITCZ. On the other hand, the seasonal displacements of E‐P and SSS minima are in antiphase in the central and western parts of the Pacific ITCZ. At the interannual time scale, the E‐P and SSS minima migrate poleward during La Nina events in the Pacific and during the positive phase of the Atlantic Meridional Dipole (AMD) in the Atlantic (and vice versa during El Nino and the negative phase of the AMD). We further document long‐term (1979–2009) meridional migrations of the E‐P and SSS minima, especially in the SPCZ region, and discuss whether or not they are consistent with documented SST and wind stress trends.

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Climatic Constraints on Growth Rate and Geochemistry (Sr/Ca and U/Ca) of the Coral Siderastrea stellata in the Southwest Equatorial Atlantic (Rocas Atoll, Brazil)

Evangelista

Sifeddine

Corrège

et al. 2018

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Although relatively rare compared to similar latitudes in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, massive coral colonies are present in the Tropical/Equatorial Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. However, detailed geochemical compositions of these corals are still largely unknown. In this work, we present growth rates, Sr/Ca, and U/Ca ratios of the coral colony (Siderastrea stellata) sampled at Rocas Atoll, off the Brazilian coast. These variables are primarily affected by sea surface temperature (SST) at seasonal scale, and by wind stress at interannual scale, these results represent a broad new finding. A lower significance at the interannual time scale between Sr/Ca and U/Ca with respect to SST is attributed to the low SST amplitude closed to Equator. An investigation on the dependence of coral growth rates with respect to the “cloud shading effect” promoted by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) does not show significant influence. Additionally, rain seems to act on local geochemistry of Sr/Ca ratios and growth rate at the decadal scale.

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Recent climatic trends in the tropical Atlantic

Abstract: International audienc

Cited by 69 publications

References 101 publications

Contribution of Increased Agulhas Leakage to Tropical Atlantic Warming

Contribution of Increased Agulhas Leakage to Tropical Atlantic Warming

Variations of the tropical Atlantic and Pacific SSS minimum zones and their relations to the ITCZ and SPCZ rain bands (1979-2009)

Climatic Constraints on Growth Rate and Geochemistry (Sr/Ca and U/Ca) of the Coral Siderastrea stellata in the Southwest Equatorial Atlantic (Rocas Atoll, Brazil)

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