Sensitivity of the Multi-decadal AMOC Variability to High-Latitude Convection Across GCMs and Physical Box Model

Ron Maor, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States, Irina Marinov, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Philadelphia, United States, Behzad Asadieh, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States and Sergey Molodtsov, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States
Abstract:
AMOC characteristics had been shown to be important factors in global climate changes. Variability in different time-scales were recorded in numerous GCM models, while the physical mechanisms that drive each one of them are not yet clear. In this work, we focused on multi-decadal periodicity and analyzed different variability patterns of the AMOC across a low-resolution GFDL model (CM2Mc), CMIP5 and CMIP6 models and their relation to convection in higher latitudes (specifically the Labrador and Weddell seas). The analysis shows how salinity and temperature anomalies propagate between convective events and their correlation to atmospheric parameters and overall stability of the AMOC. In addition, a simple box model is developed to better understand the mechanisms and compare to the GCM results. The box model includes temperature and salinity advection, with forcing from above. High latitude convection events are added to the model through adjustment of the buoyancy fluxes in order to reveal the sensitivity of the AMOC to them, and the associated time-scales.
Back to: Atlantic Ocean Variability in a Changing Climate: Observations, Modeling, and Theories IV Posters