在过去的千年里,湾流的密度结构和运输
David C Lund1, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, William B Curry
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA. dlund@gps.caltech.edu
Nature
|December 1, 2006
概括
湾流在小冰河时代流动较弱,可能导致北大西洋变冷. 这项研究使用沉积物核来重建过去的海洋条件和气候.
科学领域:
- 海洋学 海洋学 海洋学
- 古气候学 古气候学
- 气候科学 气候科学
背景情况:
- 墨西哥湾流是一个主要的海洋流,将热量和水运送到北大西洋.
- 了解海湾流的长期变化对于气候变化预测至关重要.
- 仪器记录太短,无法捕捉多个世纪的气候波动.
研究的目的:
- 用地质档案重建过去的湾流行为.
- 调查海湾流在过去的气候事件中的作用,比如小冰河时代.
- 评估大西洋环流与水文循环之间的联系.
主要方法:
- 从佛罗里达海峡的高分辨率沉积物核中分析.
- 重建交叉电流密度梯度和垂直电流剪切.
- 估计过去的体积运输和表面盐度.
主要成果:
- 墨西哥湾流在小冰河时代 (大约20世纪30年代) 呈现出系统较低的交叉电流密度梯度和垂直电流剪切. 公元1200年至公元1850年).
- 据估计,小冰河时代的运输量大约比今天的价值低10%.
- 减少的流量与温度最小值和异常高的表面盐度相吻合,表明与水文循环的联系.
结论:
- 海湾流减少的海洋热传输可能导致北大西洋的小冰河时代降温.
- 这项研究强调了大西洋循环与过去一千年来水文循环之间的紧密联系.
- 古海洋学数据提供了对长期气候动态和海洋当前行为的重要见解.
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