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Simulating the role of surface forcing on observed multidecadal upper-ocean salinity changes

Citation

Lago, V and Wijffels, SE and Durack, PJ and Church, JA and Bindoff, NL and Marsland, SJ, Simulating the role of surface forcing on observed multidecadal upper-ocean salinity changes, Journal of Climate, 29, (15) pp. 5575-5588. ISSN 0894-8755 (2016) [Refereed Article]


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DOI: doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0519.1

Abstract

The ocean’s surface salinity field has changed over the observed record, driven by an intensification of the water cycle in response to global warming. However, the origin and causes of the coincident subsurface salinity changes are not fully understood. The relationship between imposed surface salinity and temperature changes and their corresponding subsurface changes is investigated using idealized ocean model experiments. The ocean’s surface has warmed by about 0.5°C (50 yr)−1 while the surface salinity pattern has amplified by about 8% per 50 years. The idealized experiments are constructed for a 50-yr period, allowing a qualitative comparison to the observed salinity and temperature changes previously reported. The comparison suggests that changes in both modeled surface salinity and temperature are required to replicate the three-dimensional pattern of observed salinity change. The results also show that the effects of surface changes in temperature and salinity act linearly on the changes in subsurface salinity. Surface salinity pattern amplification appears to be the leading driver of subsurface salinity change on depth surfaces; however, surface warming is also required to replicate the observed patterns of change on density surfaces. This is the result of isopycnal migration modified by the ocean surface warming, which produces significant salinity changes on density surfaces.

Item Details

Item Type:Refereed Article
Keywords:salinity, physical meteorology and climatology, climate change, surface fluxes, models and modeling, ocean models, variability, multidecadal variability, oceanic variability
Research Division:Earth Sciences
Research Group:Oceanography
Research Field:Chemical oceanography
Objective Division:Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
UTAS Author:Lago, V (Ms Veronique Lago)
UTAS Author:Bindoff, NL (Professor Nathan Bindoff)
ID Code:114473
Year Published:2016
Web of Science® Times Cited:26
Deposited By:Oceans and Cryosphere
Deposited On:2017-02-16
Last Modified:2018-03-28
Downloads:156 View Download Statistics

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