Jardine, J. E. and Palmer, M. and Mahaffey, C. and Holt, J. and Wakelin, S. L. and Düsterhus, Andre and Sharples, J. and Wihsgott, J. (2023) Rain triggers seasonal stratification in a temperate shelf sea. Nature Communications, 14 (3182). pp. 1-12. ISSN 2041-1723

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	rain; triggers; season stratification; temperate shelf sea;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	17449
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38599-y
Depositing User:	André Düsterhus
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2023 14:56
Journal or Publication Title:	Nature Communications
Publisher:	Nature Publshing Group
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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