Abstract
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), driven by high density water sinking around Greenland serves as a global climate regulator, because it transports heat and materials in the climate system. We analyzed the mechanism of AMOC on a decadal time scale simulated with the HadGEM2-AO model. The lead-lag regression analysis with AMOC index shows that the decadal variability of the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean can be considered as a self-sustained variability. This means that the long-term change of AMOC is related to the instability which is originated from the phase difference between the meridional temperature gradient and the ocean circulation. When the overturning circulation becomes stronger, the heat moves northward and decreases the horizontal temperature-dominated density gradients. Subsequently, this leads to weakening of the circulation, which in turn generates the anomalous cooling at high latitudes and, thereby strengthening the AMOC. In this mechanism, the density anomalies at high latitudes are controlled by the thermal advection from low latitudes, meaning that the variation of the AMOC is thermally driven and not salinity driven.
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