Role of the Maritime Continent in the remote influence of Atlantic Niño on the Pacific.

Atlantic Niño, the dominant climate mode in the equatorial Atlantic, is known to remotely force a La Niña-like response in the Pacific, potentially affecting seasonal climate predictions. Here, we use both observations and large-ensemble simulations to explore the physical mechanisms linking the Atlantic to the Pacific. Results indicate that an eastward propagating atmospheric Kelvin wave from the Atlantic, through the Indian Ocean, to the Pacific is the primary pathway.

Maintenance of mid-latitude oceanic fronts by mesoscale eddies.

Oceanic fronts associated with strong western boundary current extensions vent a vast amount of heat into the atmosphere, anchoring mid-latitude storm tracks and facilitating ocean carbon sequestration. However, it remains unclear how the surface heat reservoir is replenished by ocean processes to sustain the atmospheric heat uptake. Using high-resolution climate simulations, we find that the vertical heat transport by ocean mesoscale eddies acts as an important heat supplier to the surface ocean in frontal regions.

Observed 3D Structure, Generation, and Dissipation of Oceanic Mesoscale Eddies in the South China Sea.

Oceanic mesoscale eddies with horizontal scales of 50-300 km are the most energetic form of flows in the ocean. They are the oceanic analogues of atmospheric storms and are effective transporters of heat, nutrients, dissolved carbon, and other biochemical materials in the ocean. Although oceanic eddies have been ubiquitously observed in the world oceans since 1960s, our understanding of their three-dimensional (3D) structure, generation, and dissipation remains fragmentary due to lack of systematic full water-depth measurements.