Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Auger M., Morrow R., Kestenare Elodie, Sallee J. B., Cowley R. (2021). Southern Ocean in-situ temperature trends over 25 years emerge from interannual variability. Nature Communications, 12 (1), p. 514 [9 p.]. ISSN 2041-1723.

Titre du document
Southern Ocean in-situ temperature trends over 25 years emerge from interannual variability
Année de publication
2021
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000613043600008
Auteurs
Auger M., Morrow R., Kestenare Elodie, Sallee J. B., Cowley R.
Source
Nature Communications, 2021, 12 (1), p. 514 [9 p.] ISSN 2041-1723
Despite playing a major role in global ocean heat storage, the Southern Ocean remains the most sparsely measured region of the global ocean. Here, a unique 25-year temperature time-series of the upper 800m, repeated several times a year across the Southern Ocean, allows us to document the long-term change within water-masses and how it compares to the interannual variability. Three regions stand out as having strong trends that dominate over interannual variability: warming of the subantarctic waters (0.290.09 degrees C per decade); cooling of the near-surface subpolar waters (-0.07 +/- 0.04 degrees C per decade); and warming of the subsurface subpolar deep waters (0.04 +/- 0.01 degrees C per decade). Although this subsurface warming of subpolar deep waters is small, it is the most robust long-term trend of our section, being in a region with weak interannual variability. This robust warming is associated with a large shoaling of the maximum temperature core in the subpolar deep water (39 +/- 09m per decade), which has been significantly underestimated by a factor of 3 to 10 in past studies. We find temperature changes of comparable magnitude to those reported in Amundsen-Bellingshausen Seas, which calls for a reconsideration of current ocean changes with important consequences for our understanding of future Antarctic ice-sheet mass loss. The Southern Ocean takes up the most heat and carbon, yet because of its remote and harsh location, it remains relatively sparsely measured. Here the authors use a 25 year temperature series which shows a clear, long term trend in subsurface warming that emerges from interannual variability.
Plan de classement
Limnologie physique / Océanographie physique [032]
Description Géographique
OCEAN AUSTRAL
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010080903]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010080903
Contact