Rain triggers seasonal stratification in a temperate shelf sea
Jardine, J.E.; Palmer, M.; Mahaffey, C.; Holt, J.; Wakelin, S.L.; Düsterhus, A.; Sharples, J.; Wihsgott, J. (2023). Rain triggers seasonal stratification in a temperate shelf sea. Nature Comm. 14(1): 3182
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, meer
|   |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Jardine, J.E.
- Palmer, M.
- Mahaffey, C.
- Holt, J.
|
- Wakelin, S.L.
- Düsterhus, A.
- Sharples, J.
- Wihsgott, J.
|
|
| Abstract |
The North Atlantic Storm Track acts as a conveyor belt for extratropical cyclones that frequently deliver high winds and rainfall to northwest European shelf seas. Storms are primarily considered detrimental to shelf sea stratification due to wind-driven mixing countering thermal buoyancy, but their impact on shelf scale stratification cycles remains poorly understood. Here, we show that storms trigger stratification through enhanced surface buoyancy from rainfall. A multidecadal model confirms that rainfall contributed to triggering seasonal stratification 88% of the time from 1982 to 2015. Stratification could be further modulated by large-scale climate oscillations, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), with stratification onset dates being twice as variable during a positive AMV phase than a negative one. Further insights into how changing storm activity will impact shelf seas are discussed beyond the current view of increasing wind-driven mixing, with significant implications for marine productivity and ecosystem function. |
|
