Abstract

Analyses of historical ocean temperature data at a depth of 125 meters in the North Atlantic Ocean indicate that from 1950 to 1990 the subtropical and subarctic gyres exhibited linear trends that were opposite in phase. In addition, multivariate analyses of yearly mean temperature anomaly fields between 20°N and 70°N in the North Atlantic show a characteristic space-time temperature oscillation from 1947 to 1990. A quasidecadal oscillation, first identified at Ocean Weather Station C, is part of a basin-wide feature. Gyre and basin-scale variations such as these provide the observational basis for climate diagnostic and modeling studies.

Keywords

Ocean gyreSubarctic climateNorth Atlantic oscillationClimatologySubtropicsAtlantic multidecadal oscillationAnomaly (physics)Pacific decadal oscillationGeologyOceanographySea surface temperatureStructural basinThermohaline circulationEnvironmental science

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Publication Info

Year
1994
Type
article
Volume
266
Issue
5182
Pages
96-99
Citations
192
Access
Closed

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Sydney Levitus, John I. Antonov, Timothy P. Boyer (1994). Interannual Variability of Temperature at a Depth of 125 Meters in the North Atlantic Ocean. Science , 266 (5182) , 96-99. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.266.5182.96

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DOI
10.1126/science.266.5182.96