Ventilation Time Scales of the North Atlantic Subtropical Cell Revealed by Coral Radiocarbon from the Cape Verde Islands

Authors

Alvaro Fernandez, Tulane University
Thomas J. Lapen, University of Houston
Rasmus Andreasen, University of Houston
Peter K. Swart, University of Miami
Christopher D. White, Tulane University
Brad E. Rosenheim, University of South FloridaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Keywords

radiocarbon, corals, sclerosponges, subtropical cells, Atlantic

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1002/2015PA002790

Abstract

We present coral- and sclerosponge-based reconstructions of the ¹⁴C content in North Atlantic dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) during the last ~100 years from the subtropical cells (STCs). These waters are sensitive to the dynamics of the shallow overturning meridional circulation that transports heat and water masses from the subtropics to the tropics. We use these records to investigate the circulation patterns of the off-equatorial upwelling regions of the STCs, which are not well understood. Coral and sclerosponge skeletons provide long time series of ocean DIC ¹⁴C content, a tracer of oceanic circulation, effectively extending the observational record back in time. Sclerosponge data from the Bahamas were used to extend the existing subtropical ¹⁴C time series to the 21st century. Coral ¹⁴C data from the Cape Verde Islands (1890–2002) captured the ¹⁴C signature of water brought to the surface in the off-equatorial regions of the STC present near the West African coast. We observe a unique postbomb trend at Cape Verde that is similar to the upwelling regions in the Pacific, and we interpret this trend as the result of the slow penetration of bomb ¹⁴C into the interior ocean as part of the STC circulation. Using a multibox mixing model we constrain the time history of bomb ¹⁴C in the eastern tropical Atlantic, and we estimate a 20 year time scale for ventilation of the thermocline in this area of the ocean. The similarity between the Atlantic and Pacific ¹⁴C-based records of upwelling suggests that both are caused by bomb ¹⁴C penetration rather than more complex explanations that invoke changes in thermocline depth (e.g., related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability) or changes in the strength of the subtropical cells. Our results offer constraints for models of tropical ocean circulation and anthropogenic CO₂ uptake that attempt to reproduce the characteristics of the shallow wind-driven circulation in the Atlantic.

Rights Information

Terms of use for work posted in Scholar Commons.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Paleoceanography, v. 30, issue 7, p. 938-948

©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Scholar Commons Citation

Fernandez, Alvaro; Lapen, Thomas J.; Andreasen, Rasmus; Swart, Peter K.; White, Christopher D.; and Rosenheim, Brad E., "Ventilation Time Scales of the North Atlantic Subtropical Cell Revealed by Coral Radiocarbon from the Cape Verde Islands" (2015). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 2446.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/2446