Oceanographic responses to climate in the northwest Atlantic

2001 Oceanographic responses to climate in the northwest Atlantic. Oceanography, 14 (3). 76-82.

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Abstract/Summary

Situated in an oceanographic transition zone, the Gulf of Maine/Western Scotian Shelf (GOM/WSS) region of the Northwest Atlantic is especially susceptible to changes in the climate system. Recent studies have shown that a coupled slope water system (CSWS) operates in the Northwest Atlantic and responds in a similar manner to climatic forcing over a broad range of time scales. These studies further suggest that it may be possible to associate different modes of the CSWS with the different phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Results from recent GLOBEC field studies in the Northwest Atlantic provide strong evidence linking physical responses of the CSWS to basin-scale forcing associated with the NAO. By placing these results in the context of time-series data collected from the GOM/WSS over the past half century, we show that we show that: (i) the region’s shelf ecosystems respond both physically and biologically to modal shifts in the CSWS; (ii) the CSWS mediates the effects on these ecosystems of basin-scale climatic forcing associated with the NAO and (iii) certain planktonic species can be good indicators of the CSWS’s modal state on inter-annual to interdecadal time scales.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	This article has been published in Oceanography, Volume 14, Number 3, a quarterly journal of The Oceanography Society., Copyright 2001, by The Oceanography Society. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy this article fur use in teaching and research. Republication, systematic reproduction, or collective redistribution of any portion of this article by photocopy machine, reposting, or other means is permitted only with the approval of The Oceanography Society. Send all correspondence to info@tos.org or The Oceanography Society, P.O. Box 1931, Rockville MD 20849-1931 USA
Additional Keywords:	Gulf of Maine Western Scotian Shelf North Atlantic Oscillation Atmospheric forcing Water masses Temporal variations
Subjects:	Oceanography
Divisions:	Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science > Other (SAHFOS) (expired)
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date made live:	19 Oct 2006
Last Modified:	06 Jun 2017 15:59
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/1721

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