The pathway of the interdecadal variability in the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Cases of the interdecadal variability in the Pacific Ocean and their evolution were examined in the paper with the statistic methods (CEOF and composite analysis) over the period of 1950-1993. Observations of oceanic temperatures in the upper 400 m revealed an obvious region of the interdecadal signals in the central North Pacific. Such signals propagated southwestward, then subducted to the subtropics. The hypothesized link for interdecadal oceanic variability between the subtropics and the tropics, especially with the western tropical Pacific was unraveled in order to detect the cause of decadal signals in the tropics. The thermal anomalies subducted in the central North Pacific east to the dateline only reach 18 degrees N. There has been no further southward propagation since then due to a certain barrier. The origin of the interdecadal signals in the western tropical Pacific was traced to the southern tropical Pacific. There is a meridional pathway around the dateline where the signals were loaded. These variabilities were in the nature of the thermocline circulation.