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Science 17 August 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5840, pp. 935 - 938
DOI: 10.1126/science.1141304
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Reports

Temporal Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N

Stuart A. Cunningham,1* Torsten Kanzow,1 Darren Rayner,1 Molly O. Baringer,2 William E. Johns,3 Jochem Marotzke,4* Hannah R. Longworth,1 Elizabeth M. Grant,1 Joël J.-M. Hirschi,1 Lisa M. Beal,3 Christopher S. Meinen,2 Harry L. Bryden1

The vigor of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is thought to be vulnerable to global warming, but its short-term temporal variability is unknown so changes inferred from sparse observations on the decadal time scale of recent climate change are uncertain. We combine continuous measurements of the MOC (beginning in 2004) using the purposefully designed transatlantic Rapid Climate Change array of moored instruments deployed along 26.5°N, with time series of Gulf Stream transport and surface-layer Ekman transport to quantify its intra-annual variability. The year-long average overturning is 18.7 ± 5.6 sverdrups (Sv) (range: 4.0 to 34.9 Sv, where 1 Sv = a flow of ocean water of 106 cubic meters per second). Interannual changes in the overturning can be monitored with a resolution of 1.5 Sv.

1 National Oceanography Centre, Empress Dock, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)–Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)/Physical Oceanography Division, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
3 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS), University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
4 Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Bundesstrasse 53, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: scu{at}noc.soton.ac.uk (S.A.C.); marotzke{at}dkrz.de (J.M.)

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)