Pending recovery in the strength of the meridional overturning circulation at 26°&thinsp;N

Moat, Ben I.; Smeed, David A.; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor; Desbruyères, Damien G.; Beaulieu, Claudie; Johns, William E.; Rayner, Darren; Sanchez-Franks, Alejandra; Baringer, Molly O.; Volkov, Denis; Jackson, Laura C.; Bryden, Harry L.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-863-2020

Articles | Volume 16, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-863-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-863-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 4

Research article

|

23 Jul 2020

Research article |

| 23 Jul 2020

Pending recovery in the strength of the meridional overturning circulation at 26° N

Ben I. Moat, David A. Smeed, Eleanor Frajka-Williams, Damien G. Desbruyères, Claudie Beaulieu, William E. Johns, Darren Rayner, Alejandra Sanchez-Franks, Molly O. Baringer, Denis Volkov, Laura C. Jackson, and Harry L. Bryden

Data sets

Atlantic meridional overturning circulation observed by the RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS (RAPID-Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array-Western Boundary Time Series) array at 26N from 2004 to 2018 D. Smeed B. Moat, D. Rayner, W. E. Johns, M. O. Baringer, D. Volkov, and E. Frajka-Williams https://doi.org/10.5285/8cd7e7bb-9a20-05d8-e053-6c86abc012c2

Short summary

The RAPID 26° N array has been measuring the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) since 2004. Since 2009 the AMOC has, compared with previous years, been in a low state. In 2013–2015, in the northern North Atlantic, strong cooling was observed in the ocean and anticipated to intensify the strength of the AMOC some years later. Here, we analyse the latest results from 26° N and conclude that while the AMOC has increased since 2009, this increase is not statistically significant.