South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre Late Twentieth Century Changes

Abstract

AbstractThis study builds upon existing research suggesting recent changes in the circulation of global subtropical gyres with respect to the South Atlantic Ocean using simulation results from the ocean component of the Community Earth System Model version 1—the Parallel Ocean Program version 2. The results point to an intensification of the total anticyclonic circulation of the subtropical gyre and a southward displacement of the system, as revealed by the wind stress curl, sea surface height, and barotropic stream function fields. Increased values of these variables were found within the dynamical limits of the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (SASG), while their basin‐scale structure seemed to be concurrently drifting poleward. The southern branch of the South Equatorial Current (sSEC) marks the northern boundary of the SASG. When reaching the South American coast, it bifurcates into the North Brazil Undercurrent to the north and the Brazil Current to the south. The sSEC bifurcation latitude (SBL) dictates the partition between the waters flowing poleward to recirculate within the SASG and those flowing toward the equatorial region and the Northern Hemisphere. A southward migration of the SBL at a rate of −0.11°± 0.03°/year was observed, associated with a substantial increase in the equatorward advection of waters within the sSEC‐SBL‐North Brazil Undercurrent system.