There are three described subspecies of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus): B. p. physalus Linnaeus, 1758 in the Northern Hemisphere, B. p. quoyi Fischer, 1829 in the Southern Hemisphere, and a recently described pygmy form, B. p. patachonica Burmeister, 1865. The discrete distribution in the North Pacific and North Atlantic raises the question of whether a single Northern Hemisphere subspecies...

Understanding the internal ocean variability and its influence on climate is imperative for society. A key aspect concerns the enigmatic Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), a feature defined by a 60- to 90-year variability in North Atlantic sea-surface temperatures. The nature and origin of the AMO is uncertain, and it remains unknown whether it represents a persistent periodic driver in t...

Coupled radiocarbon and thorium-230 dates from benthic coral species reveal that the ventilation rate of the North Atlantic upper deep water varied greatly during the last deglaciation. Radiocarbon ages in several corals of the same age, 15.41 +/- 0.17 thousand years, and nearly the same depth, 1800 meters, in the western North Atlantic Ocean increased by as much as 670 years during the 30- to ...

[1] The anthropogenic CO2 accumulation rate for the North Atlantic Ocean was estimated on the basis of the decrease in the dC of the dissolved inorganic carbon measured between cruises in 1981 (Transient Tracers in the North Atlantic), 1993 (OACES) and 2003 (Repeat Hydrography). A mean depth-integrated dC change of 15.0 ± 3.8% m yr 1 was estimated by applying a multiple linear regression approa...

An atmospheric GCM coupled to a slab ocean model is used to investigate how temperature and precipitation over South America and Africa affect the annual cycle of the Atlantic ITCZ. The main conclusion of this study is that variations in precipitation and temperature forced by the annual cycle of insolation over the continents are as important as variations in insolation over the ocean and in o...

[1] This paper reviews three modes of natural variability that have been identified in the North Atlantic Ocean, namely, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM). This manuscript focuses on the multidecadal fluctuations of these three modes. A range of different mechanisms to initiate phase reversals in these modes ...

24 We assess the skill of retrospective multi-year forecasts of North Atlantic ocean 25 characteristics obtained with ocean-atmosphere-sea ice models that are initialized with 26 estimates from the observed ocean state. We show that these multi-model forecasts can 27 skilfully predict surface and subsurface ocean variability with lead times of 2 to 9 years. We 28 focus on assessment of forecast...

Formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) represents a transfer of upper layer water to abyssal depths at a rate of 15 to 20 x 10 6 m3/s. NADW spreads throughout the Atlantic Ocean and is exported to the Indian and Pacific Oceans by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and deep western boundary currents. Naturally, there must be a compensating flow of upper layer water toward the northern Nort...

Meridional ocean freshwater transports and convergences are calculated from absolute geostrophic velocities and Ekman transports. The freshwater transports are analyzed in terms of mass-balanced contributions from the shallow, ventilated circulation of the subtropical gyres, intermediate and deep water overturns, and Indonesian Throughflow and Bering Strait components. The following are the maj...

[1] Variations in the poleward-directed Atlantic heat transfer was investigated over the past 135 ka with special emphasis on the last and present interglacial climate development (Eemian and Holocene). Both interglacials exhibited very similar climatic oscillations during each preceding glacial terminations (deglacial TI and TII). Like TI, also TII has pronounced cold–warm–cold changes akin to...