Bidecadal Thermal Changes in the Abyssal Ocean

5 A dynamically consistent state estimate is used for the period 1992-2011 to describe 6 the changes in oceanic temperatures and heat content, with an emphasis on determining 7 the noise background in the abyssal (below 2000 m) depths. Interpretation requires close 8 attention to the long memory of the deep ocean, and implying that meteorological forcing of 9 decades to thousands of years ago should still be producing trend-like changes in abyssal heat 10 content. At the present time, warming is seen in the deep western Atlantic and Southern 11 Ocean, roughly consistent with those regions of the ocean expected to display the earliest 12 responses to surface disturbances. Parts of the deeper ocean, below 3600 m, show cooling. 13 Most of the variation in the abyssal Pacific Ocean is comparatively featureless, consistent 14