Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 14, 2026

Investigating the Relationship between Sea Surface Chlorophyll and Major Features of the South China Sea with Satellite Information
Published on: June 13, 2020
Southern Ocean influence on Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation across climate states
Zhaoyang Song1,2, Mojib Latif3,4, Wonsun Park5,6
1School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education, Zhuhai, China. songzhaoy@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
None:
Various proxy data agree on a shallow Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the last glacial maximum (LGM), extending down to 2000 m - 2500 m depth, which is similar to the AMOC geometry projected by climate models over the 21st century with rising atmospheric CO2. The AMOC strength in the two climate states is insufficiently constrained. Here the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) properties from proxy data and climate models are used to investigate their influences on the AMOC. It is primarily the AABW's potential density that determines the AMOC depth in both the LGM and warming climate. Changes in the potential density of the AABW, and the density contrast between NADW and AABW affect the pathways via which NADW returns to the surface and provide a constraint on AMOC strength. This study emphasizes the importance of the Southern Ocean in the AMOC's depth and strength across climate states.
Related Concept Videos
What is Climate?
Global Climate Change
Coriolis Force
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
What is Weather?

