Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions
Abstract The southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO) has witnessed amplifying variability in the 0–700 m heat content during the past decades. More heat pile‐up (HPU) events have been observed than before, leading to increased occurrence of marine heatwaves and threats to local marine ecosystems. Here, we sho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116678 |
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| author | Yuanlong Li Jing Duan Yilong Lyu Rui Li Zhanxian Cui Fan Wang |
| author_facet | Yuanlong Li Jing Duan Yilong Lyu Rui Li Zhanxian Cui Fan Wang |
| author_sort | Yuanlong Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO) has witnessed amplifying variability in the 0–700 m heat content during the past decades. More heat pile‐up (HPU) events have been observed than before, leading to increased occurrence of marine heatwaves and threats to local marine ecosystems. Here, we show that most of these HPU events cooccur with multi‐year La Niña (MLN) conditions, and Pacific‐origin downwelling baroclinic waves play a key role in establishing the upper‐layer convergence of the SEIO. However, model experiments and budget analysis for the recent 2020–2023 event reveal that the extra heat in the SEIO is fueled mostly by the heat redistribution over the Indian Ocean, rather than by the Pacific via the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). Climate models project more HPU events in the SEIO in future, partly associated with the increasing MLN events in a warming climate. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-beb09a4b1eb148b086273b9b8e918d96 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-beb09a4b1eb148b086273b9b8e918d962025-08-20T02:46:20ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015214n/an/a10.1029/2025GL116678Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña ConditionsYuanlong Li0Jing Duan1Yilong Lyu2Rui Li3Zhanxian Cui4Fan Wang5Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaKey Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao ChinaAbstract The southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO) has witnessed amplifying variability in the 0–700 m heat content during the past decades. More heat pile‐up (HPU) events have been observed than before, leading to increased occurrence of marine heatwaves and threats to local marine ecosystems. Here, we show that most of these HPU events cooccur with multi‐year La Niña (MLN) conditions, and Pacific‐origin downwelling baroclinic waves play a key role in establishing the upper‐layer convergence of the SEIO. However, model experiments and budget analysis for the recent 2020–2023 event reveal that the extra heat in the SEIO is fueled mostly by the heat redistribution over the Indian Ocean, rather than by the Pacific via the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). Climate models project more HPU events in the SEIO in future, partly associated with the increasing MLN events in a warming climate.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116678ocean heat contentsoutheast Indian OceanLa Niñaclimate change |
| spellingShingle | Yuanlong Li Jing Duan Yilong Lyu Rui Li Zhanxian Cui Fan Wang Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions Geophysical Research Letters ocean heat content southeast Indian Ocean La Niña climate change |
| title | Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions |
| title_full | Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions |
| title_fullStr | Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions |
| title_short | Increasing Heat Pile‐Up Events in the Southeast Indian Ocean Linked to Multi‐Year La Niña Conditions |
| title_sort | increasing heat pile up events in the southeast indian ocean linked to multi year la nina conditions |
| topic | ocean heat content southeast Indian Ocean La Niña climate change |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116678 |
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