Bibcode
Carracedo, L. I.; García, M.; Mercier, H.; Conde, P.; Lherminier, P.; Pérez, F. F.; Gilcoto, M.
Bibliographical reference
EGU General Assembly 2012, held 22-27 April, 2012 in Vienna, Austria., p.1052
Advertised on:
4
2012
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The Ovide (Observatoire de la Variabilité Interannuelle à
DEcennale) project has consisted on repeated trans-oceanic hydrographic
section from Greenland to Portugal every other year (from 2002 to 2010).
This project is part of the CLIVAR (Climate Variability and
Predictability) and CARBOOCEAN international programs, both focused on
ocean climate variability. The section crosses the main currents
implicated in the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
(MOC), and is very close to the previous A25 section ("Fourex") of the
WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) performed in 1997. The North
Atlantic Ocean plays a crucial role in the global thermohaline
circulation as can be considered the departure point of the MOC, where
the warm salty waters are transformed by deep winter convection into
deep waters. The water mass distribution in the section is derived by
means of OMP method for every cruise, and then combined with absolute
velocity fields to provide the relative contribution from each water
mass to the final transport values. The water mass circulation pattern
across the section is then discussed within the context of interannual
variability of the main MOC components, in terms of the different water
mass components. The mean transport for each of these water masses
results in 11.7 ± 2.6 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s-1) for central
waters, 2.0 ± 0.69 Sv for SubArtic Intermediate Water, 0.58
± 0.51 Sv for Antartic Intermediate water and MW 0.15 ±
1.3 Sv, all of them flowing northward and contributing to the upper
branch of the MOC. On other hand, the lower MOC branch transports
southward -8.5 ± 2.0 Sv of LSW, -3.3 ± 0.33 Sv of
Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water and -1.3 ± 0.92 Sv of Denmark
Strait Overflow Water, with an almost zero net transport of North East
Atlantic Deep Water of 0.17 ± 1.0 Sv. The knowledge of the
variability and contribution of each water mass itself will allow a
better understanding of the global circulation mechanisms in the
subpolar intergyre region, which is the connection between the North
Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) atmospheric forcing and the changes in
production and/or advection of main water masses.