The Agulhas System and its Role in Changing Ocean Circulation, Climate, and Marine Ecosystems
Spier Hotel, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
8–12 October 2012
Conference Objectives and General Description
The Agulhas System plays a significant role in the global ocean circulation and climate. Warm, saline waters from the Indian Ocean flow into the Atlantic as part of the interocean exchange around the southern tip of Africa. Ongoing increases in this so-called Agulhas Leakage, presently under anthropogenic forcing, could strengthen the global overturning circulation in the Atlantic at a time when warming and accelerated meltwater input in the North Atlantic are predicted to weaken it. However compared to processes in the North Atlantic, the Agulhas system has been largely ignored as a potential trigger or stabilizer of climate variability.
At regional scales the Agulhas influences extreme weather events while interannual rainfall variations in southern Africa are correlated with warm and cold anomalies in the Agulhas system, associated with the Indian Ocean climate modes. Large Marine Ecosystems in the region and the distribution of large pelagic species and their fisheries are also influenced by variations in the physical Agulhas system in an as yet poorly known manner.
The purpose of this Chapman conference is to identify the most pressing questions and to design modeling experiments in combination with paleoceanographic and (sustained) modern observations to establish the role of the Agulhas system from regional to global scales.
Conveners
Will de Ruijter, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, w.p.m.deruijter@uu.nl
Rainer Zahn, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, rainer.zahn@uab.cat
Arne Biastoch, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Germany, abiastoch@ifm-geomar.de
Lisa Beal, University of Miami, U.S.A., lbeal@rsmas.miami.edu
Program Committee
SCOR WG 136 Members and Associate Members:
Meghan Cronin, NOAA PMEL, Seattle, U.S.A., Meghan.F.Cronin@noaa.gov
Francis Marsac, IRD, France, francis.marsac@ird.fr
Juliet Hermes, SAEON, Cape Town, South Africa, juliet@saeon.ac.za
Graham Quartly, NOCS, Great Britain, graham.quartly@noc.soton.ac.uk
Tomoki Tozuka, University of Tokyo, Japan, tozuka@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Ian Hall, Cardiff University, Great Britain, Hall@cardiff.ac.uk
Pierrick Penven, IRD, France, Pierrick.Penven@ird.fr
Herman Ridderinkhof, NIOZ, The Netherlands, Herman.Ridderinkhof@nioz.nl
Michael Roberts, DEA Oceans and Coasts, South Africa, squid@metroweb.co.za
Local Organizing Committee
David Vousden, ASCLME, Grahamstown, South Africa, david.vousden@asclme.org
Juliet Hermes, SAEON, Cape Town, South Africa, juliet@saeon.ac.za
Michael Roberts, DEA Oceans and Coasts, South Africa, squid@metroweb.co.za
Financial Support
The organizers wish to acknowledge the generous support for this conference.
Travel Support
The conference organizers are seeking travel support for participation, including students and early-career professionals. If travel funds become available, an announcement will be widely circulated with instructions on the application process and deadline.
Further Information
If you would like to receive future updates about this conference, e-mail chapman-agulhassystem@agu.org, or call the AGU Meetings Department at +1-202-777-7330.
For information about the scientific program, please contact one of the conveners via e-mail:
Will de Ruijter1 Rainer Zahn2 Arne Biastoch3 Lisa Beal4
1Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht, Utrecht University
Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
w.p.m.deruijter@uu.nl
2Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, ICREA i Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals Edifici Cn - Campus UAB, E-08193
ellaterra (Cerdanyola), Spain
rainer.zahn@uab.cat
3Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR)
Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
abiastoch@ifm-geomar.de
4Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA
lbeal@rsmas.miami.edu