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Sallée JB, Abrahamsen EP, Allaigre C, Auger M, Ayres H, Badhe R, Boutin J, Brearley JA, de Lavergne C, ten Doeschate AMM, Droste ES, du Plessis MD, Ferreira D, Giddy IS, Gülk B, Gruber N, Hague M, Hoppema M, Josey SA, Kanzow T, Kimmritz M, Lindeman MR, Llanillo PJ, Lucas NS, Madec G, Marshall DP, Meijers AJS, Meredith MP, Mohrmann M, Monteiro PMS, Mosneron Dupin C, Naeck K, Narayanan A, Naveira Garabato AC, Nicholson SA, Novellino A, Ödalen M, Østerhus S, Park W, Patmore RD, Piedagnel E, Roquet F, Rosenthal HS, Roy T, Saurabh R, Silvy Y, Spira T, Steiger N, Styles AF, Swart S, Vogt L, Ward B, Zhou S. Southern ocean carbon and heat impact on climate. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci 2023; 381:20220056. [PMID: 37150205 PMCID: PMC10164461 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2022.0056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The Southern Ocean greatly contributes to the regulation of the global climate by controlling important heat and carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean. Rates of climate change on decadal timescales are therefore impacted by oceanic processes taking place in the Southern Ocean, yet too little is known about these processes. Limitations come both from the lack of observations in this extreme environment and its inherent sensitivity to intermittent processes at scales that are not well captured in current Earth system models. The Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate programme was launched to address this knowledge gap, with the overall objective to understand and quantify variability of heat and carbon budgets in the Southern Ocean through an investigation of the key physical processes controlling exchanges between the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice using a combination of observational and modelling approaches. Here, we provide a brief overview of the programme, as well as a summary of some of the scientific progress achieved during its first half. Advances range from new evidence of the importance of specific processes in Southern Ocean ventilation rate (e.g. storm-induced turbulence, sea-ice meltwater fronts, wind-induced gyre circulation, dense shelf water formation and abyssal mixing) to refined descriptions of the physical changes currently ongoing in the Southern Ocean and of their link with global climate. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean: the state of the art and future priorities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- The SO-CHIC consortium
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - J. B. Sallée
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | | | - C. Allaigre
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - M. Auger
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - H. Ayres
- University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - R. Badhe
- European Polar Board, Den Haag, The Netherlands
| | - J. Boutin
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | | | - C. de Lavergne
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - A. M. M. ten Doeschate
- AirSea Laboratory and Ryan Institute, School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - E. S. Droste
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - M. D. du Plessis
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - I. S. Giddy
- Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - B. Gülk
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | | | - M. Hoppema
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - S. A. Josey
- National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
| | - T. Kanzow
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - M. Kimmritz
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | | | - P. J. Llanillo
- Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | | | - G. Madec
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | | | | | | | - M. Mohrmann
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - P. M. S. Monteiro
- Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory (SOCCO), CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - C. Mosneron Dupin
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - K. Naeck
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - A. Narayanan
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - S-A. Nicholson
- Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory (SOCCO), CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
| | | | - M. Ödalen
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - S. Østerhus
- Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), Bergen, Norway
| | - W. Park
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- IBS Center for Climate Physics and Department of Climate System, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea
| | | | - E. Piedagnel
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - F. Roquet
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - H. S. Rosenthal
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - R. Saurabh
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - Y. Silvy
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - T. Spira
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - N. Steiger
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | | | - S. Swart
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - L. Vogt
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - B. Ward
- AirSea Laboratory and Ryan Institute, School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - S. Zhou
- British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
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de Lavergne C, Madec G, Roquet F, Holmes RM, McDougall TJ. Abyssal ocean overturning shaped by seafloor distribution. Nature 2018; 551:181-186. [PMID: 29120416 DOI: 10.1038/nature24472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The abyssal ocean is broadly characterized by northward flow of the densest waters and southward flow of less-dense waters above them. Understanding what controls the strength and structure of these interhemispheric flows-referred to as the abyssal overturning circulation-is key to quantifying the ocean's ability to store carbon and heat on timescales exceeding a century. Here we show that, north of 32° S, the depth distribution of the seafloor compels dense southern-origin waters to flow northward below a depth of about 4 kilometres and to return southward predominantly at depths greater than 2.5 kilometres. Unless ventilated from the north, the overlying mid-depths (1 to 2.5 kilometres deep) host comparatively weak mean meridional flow. Backed by analysis of historical radiocarbon measurements, the findings imply that the geometry of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic basins places a major external constraint on the overturning structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- C de Lavergne
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.,LOCEAN Laboratory, Sorbonne Universités (Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6)-CNRS-IRD-MNHN, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - G Madec
- LOCEAN Laboratory, Sorbonne Universités (Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6)-CNRS-IRD-MNHN, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - F Roquet
- Department of Meteorology (MISU), Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - R M Holmes
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.,Climate Change Research Centre and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - T J McDougall
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
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