Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-997-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-997-2020
Research article
 | 
27 Aug 2020
Research article |  | 27 Aug 2020

Global sea level reconstruction for 1900–2015 reveals regional variability in ocean dynamics and an unprecedented long weakening in the Gulf Stream flow since the 1990s

Tal Ezer and Sönke Dangendorf

Related subject area

Depth range: All Depths | Approach: Remote Sensing | Geographical range: Deep Seas: North Atlantic | Phenomena: Sea Level
Sub-basin-scale sea level budgets from satellite altimetry, Argo floats and satellite gravimetry: a case study in the North Atlantic Ocean
Marcel Kleinherenbrink, Riccardo Riva, and Yu Sun
Ocean Sci., 12, 1179–1203, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-1179-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-1179-2016, 2016
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Cited articles

Andres, M., Donohue, K. A., and Toole, J. M.: The Gulf Stream's path and time-averaged velocity structure and transport at 68.5 W and 70.3 W, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 156, 103179, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2019.103179, 2020. 
AVISO: Altimeter data, available at: http://las.aviso.oceanobs.com, last access: 20 August 2020. 
Baringer, M. O. and Larsen, J. C.: Sixteen Years of Florida Current Transport at 27 N, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 3179–3182, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013246, 2001. 
Bingham, R. J. and Hughes, C. W.: Signature of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in sea level along the east coast of North America, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L02603, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL036215, 2009. 
Blaha, J. P.: Fluctuations of monthly sea level as related to the intensity of the Gulf Stream from Key West to Norfolk, J. Geophys. Res., 89, 8033–8042, https://doi.org/10.1029/JC089iC05p08033, 1984. 
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Short summary
Regional variability and changes in ocean dynamics during 1900–2015 were obtained in the western North Atlantic Ocean from a global sea level reconstruction. An unprecedented long period of weakening in the Gulf Stream (GS) flow since the late 1990s was found. The variability and slowdown of the GS were related to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The reconstruction captured observed variability in the coastal sea level and GS flow on timescales of ∼5–50 years very well.