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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • eastern South Pacific Ocean
  • decadal variability

Index Terms

  • Oceanography: Physical: Decadal ocean variability
  • Oceanography: General: Physical and chemical properties of seawater
  • Oceanography: General: Ocean observing systems

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L24606, 5 PP., 2007
doi:10.1029/2007GL031933

Spin-up of South Pacific subtropical gyre freshens and cools the upper layer of the eastern South Pacific Ocean

Wolfgang Schneider

Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacifico Sur-Oriental, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Masao Fukasawa

Institute of Observational Research for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan

José Garcés-Vargas

Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacifico Sur-Oriental, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Luis Bravo

Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacifico Sur-Oriental, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Hiroshi Uchida

Institute of Observational Research for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan

Takeshi Kawano

Institute of Observational Research for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan

Rosalino Fuenzalida

Departamento de Oceanografía and Centro de Investigación Oceanográfica en el Pacifico Sur-Oriental, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Temperature and salinity from the upper 200 m of the water column in the South Pacific Ocean were compared basin-wide along 32°30′S between 1992 and 2003, based on two vertically and horizontally high-resolution hydrographic repeat-sections involving 227 station pairs. Additionally, the seasonal cycles of the upper water column temperature and salinity between 90–140°W and 30.5–34.5°S were established utilizing 1540 ARGO profiles from 2003 to 2007; these were related to the hydrographic sections. Furthermore, South Pacific sea surface temperature trends from 1992 to 2003 were addressed. The surface waters (0–200 m) of the eastern South Pacific Ocean, on average and seasonally adjusted, were clearly fresher by 0.1 in 2003. The seasonally adjusted, depth-integrated temperature was 0.25°C colder in the same region. We relate the observed temperature and salinity changes to a spin-up of the subtropical gyre circulation caused by intensified wind stress.

Received 5 September 2007; accepted 21 November 2007; published 27 December 2007.

Citation: Schneider, W., M. Fukasawa, J. Garcés-Vargas, L. Bravo, H. Uchida, T. Kawano, and R. Fuenzalida (2007), Spin-up of South Pacific subtropical gyre freshens and cools the upper layer of the eastern South Pacific Ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L24606, doi:10.1029/2007GL031933.

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