Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
Abstract We use the coupled atmosphere‐ocean model MIROC4m to investigate the effect of mid‐Pliocene boundary conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), studying the impact of increased CO2, reduced ice sheets and altered orography and vegetation. We find that a higher CO2...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113118 |
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| author | Julia E. Weiffenbach Wing‐Le Chan Ayako Abe‐Ouchi Anna S. von derHeydt |
| author_facet | Julia E. Weiffenbach Wing‐Le Chan Ayako Abe‐Ouchi Anna S. von derHeydt |
| author_sort | Julia E. Weiffenbach |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We use the coupled atmosphere‐ocean model MIROC4m to investigate the effect of mid‐Pliocene boundary conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), studying the impact of increased CO2, reduced ice sheets and altered orography and vegetation. We find that a higher CO2 concentration and smaller ice sheets both weaken the AMOC with respect to the pre‐industrial. The stronger mid‐Pliocene AMOC is therefore a consequence of mid‐Pliocene orography and vegetation, where the closed Arctic gateways are responsible for approximately 80% of the AMOC strengthening. The main mechanism for mid‐Pliocene AMOC strengthening is reduced transport of freshwater from the Arctic into the North Atlantic, enhanced by a decrease of surface freshwater flux into the high‐latitude North Atlantic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb2684bc1ab9429bbd2f34f38b64dca1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb2684bc1ab9429bbd2f34f38b64dca12025-08-20T03:09:49ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-02-01524n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113118Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)Julia E. Weiffenbach0Wing‐Le Chan1Ayako Abe‐Ouchi2Anna S. von derHeydt3Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht Department of Physics Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsAtmosphere and Ocean Research Institute University of Tokyo Kashiwa JapanAtmosphere and Ocean Research Institute University of Tokyo Kashiwa JapanInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht Department of Physics Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsAbstract We use the coupled atmosphere‐ocean model MIROC4m to investigate the effect of mid‐Pliocene boundary conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), studying the impact of increased CO2, reduced ice sheets and altered orography and vegetation. We find that a higher CO2 concentration and smaller ice sheets both weaken the AMOC with respect to the pre‐industrial. The stronger mid‐Pliocene AMOC is therefore a consequence of mid‐Pliocene orography and vegetation, where the closed Arctic gateways are responsible for approximately 80% of the AMOC strengthening. The main mechanism for mid‐Pliocene AMOC strengthening is reduced transport of freshwater from the Arctic into the North Atlantic, enhanced by a decrease of surface freshwater flux into the high‐latitude North Atlantic.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113118plioceneglobal climate modelatlantic meridional overturning circulationarctic gatewaysnorth atlantic |
| spellingShingle | Julia E. Weiffenbach Wing‐Le Chan Ayako Abe‐Ouchi Anna S. von derHeydt Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Geophysical Research Letters pliocene global climate model atlantic meridional overturning circulation arctic gateways north atlantic |
| title | Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) |
| title_full | Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) |
| title_short | Impact of Mid‐Pliocene Boundary Conditions on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) |
| title_sort | impact of mid pliocene boundary conditions on the atlantic meridional overturning circulation amoc |
| topic | pliocene global climate model atlantic meridional overturning circulation arctic gateways north atlantic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113118 |
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