Ocean circulation
Interactive freshwater stretches AMOC’s slow beat
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Fixing freshwater flux in CESM1 inserts a ~30-year AMOC peak; coupling precipitation, evaporation, and ice melt lengthens the cycle via Labrador Sea salinity.
Key findings
Coupled AMOC power sits in a 50–100-year band. Without interactive FWF a sharp ~30-year peak appears and density anomalies reverse in ~15 years. Interactive FWF lengthens positive Labrador density by ~50% (17 to 25 years) via evaporation and Irminger salinity advection.
Methodology
Authors compared a 1400-year preindustrial CESM1 control with a 350-year partially coupled run that prescribes daily-climatology freshwater flux, then diagnosed AMOC PC-1 spectra and Labrador Sea density budgets.
Limitations
This is one model’s internal variability under preindustrial forcing, not an observational AMOC spectrum; the first 50 FWFIX years are spin-up; periods <15 years were filtered.
How this study connects
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Fixing freshwater flux in CESM1 inserts a ~30-year AMOC peak; coupling precipitation, evaporation, and ice melt lengthens the cycle via Labrador Sea salinity.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
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