RRS Charles Darwin Cruise 139, 01 Mar-15 Apr 2002. Trans-Indian Hydrographic Section across 32°S

A modern hydrographic section was made across the Indian Ocean at a latitude of about 32°S during a 46-day voyage from Durban to Fremantle aboard RRS Charles Darwin in March-April 2002. The principal goal of this work was to measure the flows of mass, heat, freshwater, inorganic and organic nutrients, and carbon dioxide across the southern boundary of the Indian Ocean in order to determine the meridional overturning circulation for the Indian Ocean, to define the heat, freshwater, nutrientand carbon transports across 32°S, and to produce overall physical and biogeochemical budgets for the Indian Ocean. A second goal was to examine the climate variability in ocean circulation from comparisons of these new measurements with previous surveys in 1936, 1965, 1987 and 1995. A total of 146 hydrographic stations were made along this transoceanic section. At each station an instrument package consisting principally of a CTD, 3 Lowered ADCP's and 24 10-litre sampling bottles was lowered from the surface down to the ocean bottom to measure temperature, salinity, oxygen and eastward and northward current profiles throughout the water column. On the way back to the surface, 24 water samples were collected at various depths and these samples were analysed on board ship for salinity and oxygen (to calibrate the continuous electronic profiles), for inorganicnutrients, constituents of the carbon system, and chlorofluorocarbons. Samples were also collected and stored for later, shore-based analyses of helium, tritium, and organic nutrients. Throughout the cruise velocity data in the upper few hundred meters of the water column were provided by an ADCP mounted in the ship's hull, meteorological variables were monitored and samples of air and rainfall were periodically collected. In addition, 25 Argo floats were launched along the section to provide continuing profiles over the next 5 years. This report describes the methods used to acquire and process the measurements on board ship during the cruise

RRS Charles Darwin Cruise 139, 01 Mar-15 Apr 2002. Trans-Indian Hydrographic Section across 32°S

A modern hydrographic section was made across the Indian Ocean at a latitude of about 32°S during a 46-day voyage from Durban to Fremantle aboard RRS Charles Darwin in March-April 2002. The principal goal of this work was to measure the flows of mass, heat, freshwater, inorganic and organic nutrients, and carbon dioxide across the southern boundary of the Indian Ocean in order to determine the meridional overturning circulation for the Indian Ocean, to define the heat, freshwater, nutrientand carbon transports across 32°S, and to produce overall physical and biogeochemical budgets for the Indian Ocean. A second goal was to examine the climate variability in ocean circulation from comparisons of these new measurements with previous surveys in 1936, 1965, 1987 and 1995. A total of 146 hydrographic stations were made along this transoceanic section. At each station an instrument package consisting principally of a CTD, 3 Lowered ADCP's and 24 10-litre sampling bottles was lowered from the surface down to the ocean bottom to measure temperature, salinity, oxygen and eastward and northward current profiles throughout the water column. On the way back to the surface, 24 water samples were collected at various depths and these samples were analysed on board ship for salinity and oxygen (to calibrate the continuous electronic profiles), for inorganicnutrients, constituents of the carbon system, and chlorofluorocarbons. Samples were also collected and stored for later, shore-based analyses of helium, tritium, and organic nutrients. Throughout the cruise velocity data in the upper few hundred meters of the water column were provided by an ADCP mounted in the ship's hull, meteorological variables were monitored and samples of air and rainfall were periodically collected. In addition, 25 Argo floats were launched along the section to provide continuing profiles over the next 5 years. This report describes the methods used to acquire and process the measurements on board ship during the cruise

RRS Discovery Cruise 232, 04 Apr-21 Apr 1998. Gibraltar exchange processes

The three principal objectives for RRS Discovery Cruise 232 were to carry out mooring operations associated with long-term monitoring of the exchange between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, to study nonlinear processes resulting from the strong currents in the Strait with new instrumentation uniquely available on RRS Discovery, and to measure biogeochemical fluxes associated with the upper layer inflow of Atlantic water and the lower layer outflow of Mediterranean water through the Strait.Eleven moorings deployed by scientists from Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), University of Malaga (UM), and Institut fur Meereskunde (IFM) in Kiel, who are cooperating in a two-year monitoring of the exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar using moored current meters under a multi-disciplinary CEC targeted programme called CANIGO, were scheduled for recovery during the cruise. Eight moorings were successfully recovered: two moorings were pre-released due to an error by an American collaborator and one mooring remains entangled with its anchor at the sill.The principal nonlinear process studied was the development of a bore on the outgoing tide near the sill, its release as the tide turns, and its conversion into a nonlinear wave train as it propagates eastward into the Mediterranean. Dramatic signatures of 100m amplitude internal waves were measured by acoustic backscatter using EK500 underway profiling. Robust evidence for the waves was simultaneously derived from current profiles measured by the shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), not only from the horizontal velocity but also from the directly measured vertical velocity, and from tow-yo CTD profiles up and down through the interfacial region between Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.From hydrographic sections across the eastern and western entrances to the Strait of Gibraltar, we aimed to measure the biogeochemical fluxes through the Strait. Water samples analysed for oxygen, nutrients, chlorofluorocarbons, trace metals and dissolved organic carbon are to be combined with CTD and lowered ADCP velocity profiles to determine the fluxes directly. Such flux calculations represent a challenging sampling and analysis problem due to the tidal variations in the inflow and outflow currents as well as in the depth of the interface between the Mediterranean and Atlantic waters

Observing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation yields a decade of inevitable surprises

The importance of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) heat transport for climate is well acknowledged. Climate models predict that the AMOC will slow down under global warming, with substantial impacts, but measurements of ocean circulation have been inadequate to evaluate these predictions. Observations over the past decade have changed that situation, providing a detailed picture of variations in the AMOC. These observations reveal a surprising degree of AMOC variability in terms of the intraannual range, the amplitude and phase of the seasonal cycle, the interannual changes in strength affecting the ocean heat content, and the decline of the AMOC over the decade, both of the latter two exceeding the variations seen in climate models

Compensation between meridional flow components of the Atlantic MOC at 26°N

From ten years of observations of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) at 26° N (2004–2014), we revisit the question of flow compensation between components of the circulation. Contrasting with early results from the observations, transport variations of the Florida Current (FC) and upper mid-ocean (UMO) transports (top 1000 m east of the Bahamas) are now found to compensate on sub-annual timescales. The observed compensation between the FC and UMO transports is associated with horizontal circulation and means that this part of the correlated variability does not project onto the MOC. A deep baroclinic response to wind-forcing (Ekman transport) is also found in the lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW; 3000–5000 m) transport. In contrast, co-variability between Ekman and the LNADW transports does contribute to overturning. On longer timescales, the southward UMO transport has continued to strengthen, resulting in a continued decline of the MOC. Most of this interannual variability of the MOC can be traced to changes in isopycnal displacements on the western boundary, within the top 1000 m and below 2000 m. Substantial trends are observed in isopycnal displacements in the deep ocean, underscoring the importance of deep boundary measurements to capture the variability of the Atlantic MOC

The North Atlantic Ocean is in a state of reduced overturning

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is responsible for a variable and climatically important northward transport of heat. Using data from an array of instruments that span the Atlantic at 26°N, we show that the AMOC has been in a state of reduced overturning since 2008 as compared to 2004-2008. This change of AMOC state is concurrent with other changes in the North Atlantic such as a northward shift and broadening of the Gulf Stream, and altered patterns of heat content and sea-surface temperature. These changes resemble the response to a declining AMOC predicted by coupled climate models. Concurrent changes in air-sea fluxes close to the western boundary reveal that the changes in ocean heat transport and SST have altered the pattern of ocean-atmosphere heat exchange over the North Atlantic. These results provide strong observational evidence that the AMOC is a major factor in decadal scale variability of North Atlantic climate

The North Atlantic Ocean is in a state of reduced overturning

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is responsible for a variable and climatically important northward transport of heat. Using data from an array of instruments that span the Atlantic at 26°N, we show that the AMOC has been in a state of reduced overturning since 2008 as compared to 2004-2008. This change of AMOC state is concurrent with other changes in the North Atlantic such as a northward shift and broadening of the Gulf Stream, and altered patterns of heat content and sea-surface temperature. These changes resemble the response to a declining AMOC predicted by coupled climate models. Concurrent changes in air-sea fluxes close to the western boundary reveal that the changes in ocean heat transport and SST have altered the pattern of ocean-atmosphere heat exchange over the North Atlantic. These results provide strong observational evidence that the AMOC is a major factor in decadal scale variability of North Atlantic climate

South Atlantic Interbasin Exchanges of Mass, Heat, Salt and Anthropogenic Carbon

The exchange of mass, heat, salt and anthropogenic carbon (Cant) between the South Atlantic, south of 24°S, and adjacent ocean basins is estimated from hydrographic data obtained during 2008-2009 using an inverse method. Transports of anthropogenic carbon are calculated across the western (Drake Passage), eastern (30°E) and northern (24°S) boundaries. The freshwater overturning transport of 0.09 Sv is southward, consistent with an overturning circulation that exports freshwater from the North Atlantic, and consistent with a bistable Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), under conditions of excess freshwater perturbation. At 30°E, net eastward Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) transport, south of the Subtropical Front, is compensated by a 15.9±2.3 Sv westward flow along the Antarctic boundary. The region as a whole is a substantial sink for atmospheric anthropogenic carbon of 0.51±0.37 PgC yr-1, of which 0.18±0.12 PgC yr-1 accumulates and is stored within the water column. At 24°S, a 20.2 Sv meridional overturning is associated with a 0.11 PgC yr-1 Cant overturning. The remainder is transported into the Atlantic Ocean north of 24°S (0.28±0.16 PgC yr-1) and Indian sector of Southern Ocean (1.12±0.43 PgC yr-1), having been enhanced by inflow through Drake Passage (1.07±0.44 PgC yr-1). This underlines the importance of the South Atlantic as a crucial element of the anthropogenic carbon sink in the global oceans

Contourite depositional system after the exit of a strait: Case study from the late Miocene South Rifian Corridor, Morocco

Idealized facies of bottom current deposits (contourites) have been established for fine-grained contourite drifts in modern deep-marine sedimentary environments. Their equivalent facies in the ancient record however are only scarcely recognized due to the weathered nature of most fine-grained deposits in outcrop. Facies related to the erosional elements (i.e. contourite channels) of contourite depositional systems have not yet been properly established and related deposits in outcrop appear non-existent. To better understand the sedimentary facies and facies sequences of contourites, the upper Miocene contourite depositional systems of the South Rifian Corridor (Morocco) is investigated. This contourite depositional system formed by the dense palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water. Foraminifera assemblages were used for age-constraints (7.51 to 7.35 Ma) and to determine the continental slope depositional domains. Nine sedimentary facies have been recognized based on lithology, grain-size, sedimentary structures and biogenic structures. These facies were subsequently grouped into five facies associations related to the main interpreted depositional processes (hemipelagic settling, contour currents and gravity flows). The vertical sedimentary facies succession records the tectonically induced, southward migration of the contourite depositional systems and the intermittent behaviour of the palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water, which is mainly driven by precession and millennial-scale climate variations. Tides substantially modulated the palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water on a sub-annual scale. This work shows exceptional examples of muddy and sandy contourite deposits in outcrop by which a facies distribution model from the proximal continental slope, the contourite channel to its adjacent contourite drift, is proposed. This model serves as a reference for contourite recognition both in modern environments and the ancient record. Furthermore, by establishing the hydrodynamics of overflow behaviour a framework is provided that improves process-based interpretation of deep-water bottom current deposits