Work Package 2 investigates AMOC meridional connectivity; the degree to which ocean circulation signals propagate between the tropics, subtropics, and subpolar North Atlantic. Understanding AMOC meridional connectivity is essential for interpreting observational records from different latitudes and for assessing whether models capture the right physical processes. This work builds directly on the observational records produced in WP1 and informs the modelling work in WP3.
Specifically:
The ocean provides ‘memory’ to the Earth’s climate system through the high heat capacity of water, but also the redistribution of heat from the surface to the deep ocean and across latitudes. In regions and at timescales where the AMOC is coherent, the co-variability of the large-scale ocean circulation increases the predictability of the climate system and simplifies the observational strategy. In areas where the AMOC is incoherent, the different transport variability across latitudes results in the convergence or divergence of ocean heat and freshwater content, and can lead to forcing of the atmosphere, weather and climate.
Using the AMOC records developed by EPOC, coupled and forced ocean models, and a targeted 2-year process study, we will determine over what regions and on what timescales the large-scale ocean circulation behaves as a coherent circulation pattern vs where coupled or internal ocean processes lead to incoherent behaviour.