Instability of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: Observations, Modelling and Relevance to Present and Future

Past, Present, and Future Changes in the atlantiC Meridional overturning CirCulation

Atlantic Dominance of the Meridional Overturning Circulation

North Atlantic (NA) deep-water formation and the resulting Atlantic meridional overturning cell is generally regarded as the primary feature of the global overturning circulation and is believed to be a result of the geometry of the continents. Here, instead, the overturning is viewed as a global energy–driven system and the robustness of NA dominance is investigated within this framework. Usin...

Changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Introduction: the concept of the MOC Climate models project a slow down of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) in the twenty-first century. This slow down is expected to affect climate over Europe. In particular, it damps the temperature rise due to the emission of greenhouse gases. The MOC is associated with the thermohaline circulation (ThC), which is the large-scale ocean c...

High resolution evidence for linkages between NW European ice sheet instability and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Published studies show that ice rafted debris (IRD) deposition preceding Heinrich (H) events H1 and H2 in the NE Atlantic was derived from the NW European ice sheets (NWEIS), possibly offering clues about ice sheet sensitivity and stability, and the mechanisms that caused periodic collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). We present detailed lithological and geochemical records, including rad...

On the Driving Processes of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

[1] Because of its relevance for the global climate the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has been a major research focus for many years. Yet the question of which physical mechanisms ultimately drive the AMOC, in the sense of providing its energy supply, remains a matter of controversy. Here we review both observational data and model results concerning the two main candidates...