Resonantly Forced Baroclinic Waves in the Oceans: A New Approach to Climate Variability

Abstract

How variations in Earth’s orbit pace the glacial-interglacial cycles of the Quaternary are probably one of the greatest mysteries of modern climate science. These changes in the forcing are too small to explain the observed climate variations as simple linear responses. Consequently, to strictly apply the Milankovitch’s theory, a mediator involving positive feedbacks must be found, endowing the climate response with a resonant feature. This mediation should help explain the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) by involving orbital variations as the only external forcing, contrary to the current theory that supposes the coevolution of climate, ice sheets, and carbon cycle over the past 3 million years. Supported by both observational and theoretical considerations, recent work shows that long-period Rossby waves winding around subtropical ocean gyres meet the requirements of the sought mediator. Propagating cyclonically around the subtropical gyres, the so-called Gyral Rossby waves (GRWs) owe their origin to the gradient β of the Coriolis parameter relative to the mean radius of the gyres. The resulting modulated western boundary current, whose velocity is added to that of the steady anticyclonic wind-driven current, accelerates/decelerates according to the phase of GRWs. This amplifies the oscillation of the thermocline because of a positive feedback loop ensuing from the temperature gradient between the high and low latitudes of the gyres. Multi-frequency GRWs overlap, behaving as coupled oscillators with inertia resonantly forced by solar and orbital cycles in subharmonic modes. So, the efficiency of forcing increases considerably as the forcing period approaches a natural period of the GRWs. Taking advantage of (1) the alkenone paleothermometer in sediment cores sampled in the Tasman Sea floor, we show that, in the same way as during the MPT, but with periods 10 times longer, a transition occurred at the hinge of Pliocene-Pleistocene. Both transitions as well as the observed adjustment of the South Pacific gyre to the resonance conditions during the MPT are explained from orbital forcing alone—(2) data set of individual Globigerinoides ruberδO 18 spanning the Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum from sediment core in the eastern equatorial Pacific, we show how the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity is modulated according to subharmonic modes. Periods of warming induce a decrease in ENSO activity while periods of cooling induce an increase.