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Slowdown of sea surface height rises in the Nordic seas and related mechanisms

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Abstract

A slowdown of sea surface height (SSH) rise occurred in the Nordic (GIN) seas around 2004. In this study, SSH satellite data and constructed steric height data for the decades before and after 2004 (i.e., May 1994 to April 2014) were used for comparative analysis. The findings indicate that the rate of slowdown of SSH rises in the GIN seas (3.0 mm/a) far exceeded that of the global mean (0.6 mm/a). In particular, the mean steric height of the GIN seas increased at a rate of 4.5 mm/a and then decreased at a slower pace. This was the main factor responsible for the stagnation of the SSH rises, while the mass factor only increased slightly. The Norwegian Sea particularly experienced the most prominent slowdown in SSH rises, mainly due to decreased warming of the 0–600 m layer. The controlling factors of this decreased warming were cessation in the increase of volume of the Atlantic inflow and stagnation of warming of the inflow. However, variations in air-sea thermal flux were not a major factor. In the recent two decades, mean halosteric components of the GIN seas decreased steadily and remained at a rate of 2 mm/a or more because of increased flow and salinity of the Atlantic inflow during the first decade, and reduction in freshwater inputs from the Arctic Ocean in the second decade.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine Environment, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Wenqi Shi, Jinping Zhao & Xiaoyu Wang

  2. National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, 116023, China

    Wenqi Shi & Weibin Chen

  3. Numerical Simulation Laboratory, North China Sea Marine Forecasting Center, Qingdao, 11600, China

    Xihu Lian

Authors
  1. Wenqi Shi
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  2. Jinping Zhao
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  3. Xihu Lian
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  4. Xiaoyu Wang
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  5. Weibin Chen
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Correspondence to Wenqi Shi.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41330960; the National Major Scientific Research Program on Global Changes under contract No. 2015CB953900.

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Shi, W., Zhao, J., Lian, X. et al. Slowdown of sea surface height rises in the Nordic seas and related mechanisms. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 20–33 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1027-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1027-x

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