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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • decadal variability
  • subduction rate
  • North Pacific

Index Terms

  • Oceanography: Physical: Decadal ocean variability
  • Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions
  • Oceanography: General: Water masses
  • Oceanography: Physical: Upper ocean and mixed layer processes
  • Oceanography: Physical: General circulation

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 36, L22602, 6 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009GL040914

A North Pacific decadal variability in subduction rate

Tangdong Qu

International Pacific Research Center, SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Ju Chen

International Pacific Research Center, SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Analysis of results from a global eddy-resolving general circulation model has revealed the existence of a North Pacific decadal variability in subduction rate. This decadal variability corresponds well with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The zero-lag correlation between the two time series reaches 0.61 for the period of integration (1950–2003), and increases to as high as 0.80 after the climate shift in the mid-1970s. Much of the North Pacific decadal variability in subduction rate is due to changes in winter mixed layer depth, which in turn are closely related to changes in surface wind and heat flux.

Received 8 September 2009; accepted 20 October 2009; published 20 November 2009.

Citation: Qu, T., and J. Chen (2009), A North Pacific decadal variability in subduction rate, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L22602, doi:10.1029/2009GL040914.

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