Seasonality of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Subpolar North Atlantic

Published in Communications Earth & Environment, 2023

Understanding the variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is essential for better predictions of our changing climate. Here we present an updated time series (August 2014 to June 2020) from the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP). The 6-year time series allows us to observe the seasonality of the subpolar overturning and meridional heat and freshwater transports. The overturning peaks in late spring and reaches a minimum in early winter, with a peak-to-trough range of 9.0 Sv. The overturning seasonal timing can be explained by winter transformation and the export of dense water, modulated by a seasonally varying Ekman transport.



OSNAP MOC time series



Seasonal cycle of the subpolar MOC

Download paper here

Fu, Y., Lozier, M. S., coauthors (2023), Seasonality of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Subpolar North Atlantic, Communications Earth & Environment, 4, 181. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00848-9