Cristina Arumí‐Planas

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

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Alonso Hernández‐Guerra

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Daniel Santana‐Toscano

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Verónica Caínzos

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

P. Vélez-Belchı́

Instituto Español de Oceanografía

M. Casanova‐Masjoan

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Melania Cubas Armas

Institut de Ciències del Mar

Alberto González-Santana

Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias

Luis Cana

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Riccardo Farneti

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)

Cooperative Institutions

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias

Instituto Español de Oceanografía

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

University of California, San Diego

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

Institut Català de Ciències del Clima

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The Seasonal Cycle of the Eastern Boundary Currents of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans (2023)

M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Alonso Hernández‐Guerra Luis Cana Cristina Arumí‐Planas Verónica Caínzos

Abstract For the first time, four dedicated hydrographic cruises—one in each season—took place in 2015 around the Canary Islands to determine the seasonality of the flows at the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. The Canary Current (CC) is the eastern boundary current of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre and links the Azores Current with the North Equatorial Current. The 2015 estimations show that the CC has a seasonal behavior in its path and strength, flowing on its easternmost position in winter (3.4 ± 0.3 Sv), through the Canary Islands in spring (2.1 ± 0.7 Sv) and summer (2.0 ± 0.6 Sv) and on its westernmost position in fall (3.2 ± 0.4 Sv). At the Lanzarote Passage (LP), the dominant flow is southward except in fall, where a northward transport is observed at the surface (1.1 ± 0.3 Sv) and intermediate (1.3 ± 0.2 Sv) layers. Combining all the available transport estimations, a historical composite observational seasonal cycle is constructed which fits the 2015 seasonal cycle. Hence, a solid seasonal cycle is constructed supported by all the available observations in the area. The LP seasonal cycle and its seasonal amplitude match the seasonal cycle and amplitude of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) measured by the RAPID‐MOCHA data array. These results indicate that the seasonal cycle of the AMOC of the RAPID‐MOCHA data array is driven by the dynamics of the eastern boundary current system.

Boundary current

Annual cycle

Seasonality

Peninsula

10.1029/2022jc019487

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Citations (2)

The Canary Intermediate Poleward Undercurrent: Not Another Poleward Undercurrent in an Eastern Boundary Upwelling System

Journal of Physical Oceanography (2021)

P. Vélez‐Belchí Verónica Caínzos Estela Romero M. Casanova‐Masjoan Cristina Arumí‐Planas

Abstract Poleward undercurrents are well-known features in eastern boundary upwelling systems. In the California Current upwelling system, the California poleward undercurrent has been widely studied, and it has been demonstrated that it transports nutrients from the equatorial waters to the northern limit of the subtropical gyre. However, in the Canary Current upwelling system, the Canary intermediate poleward undercurrent (CiPU) has not been properly characterized, despite recent studies arguing that the dynamics of the eastern Atlantic Ocean play an important role in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, specifically on its seasonal cycle. Here, we use trajectories of Argo floats and model simulations to characterize the CiPU, including its seasonal variability and its driving mechanism. The Argo observations show that the CiPU flows from 26°N, near Cape Bojador, to approximately 45°N, near Cape Finisterre and flows deeper than any poleward undercurrent in other eastern boundaries, with a core at a mean depth of around 1000 dbar. Model simulations manifest that the CiPU is driven by the meridional alongshore pressure gradient due to general ocean circulation and, contrary to what is observed in the other eastern boundaries, is still present at 1000 dbar as a result of the pressure gradient between the Antarctic Intermediate Waters in the south and Mediterranean Outflow waters in the north. The high seasonal variability of the CiPU, with its maximum strength in autumn and minimum in spring, is due to the poleward extension of AAIW, forced by Ekman pumping in the tropics.

Boundary current

Argo

Ekman transport

Downwelling

10.1175/jpo-d-20-0130.1

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Citations (5)

Consistent picture of the horizontal circulation of the Atlantic Ocean over 3 decades

Ocean science (2023)

Verónica Caínzos M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Daniel Santana‐Toscano Cristina Arumí‐Planas Alonso Hernández‐Guerra

Abstract. The circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is marked by the complex system of pathways of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These currents change meridionally due to the interaction with nearby water masses. Hydrographic data provide the opportunity to characterize these currents for the whole water column with high-resolution data over the last 30 years. Moreover, inverse methods enable the quantification of absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat, and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity. Generally, no changes can be found among decades for each of the currents in terms of transport or their properties. In the South Atlantic, the circulation describes the subtropical gyre affected by several recirculations. There are nearly 61 Sv entering from the Southern and Indian oceans at 45∘ S. The South Atlantic subtropical gyre exports 17.0 ± 1.2 Sv and around 1 PW northward via the North Brazil Current, as well as −55 Sv southward at 45∘ S into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the North Atlantic, most of the transport is advected northward via the western boundary currents, which reduce their strength as they take part in convection processes in the subpolar North Atlantic, also reflected in the northward progress of mass and heat transport. Deep layers carry waters southward along the western boundary, maintaining similar values of mass and heat transport until the separation into an eastern branch crossing the mid-Atlantic Ridge in the South Atlantic. Abyssal waters originating in the Southern Ocean are distributed along the South Atlantic mainly through its western subbasin, flowing northward up to 24.5∘ N, subjected to an increasing trend in their temperature with time.

Boundary current

Gulf Stream

Antarctic Intermediate Water

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

10.5194/os-19-1009-2023

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Citations (2)

The South Atlantic Circulation Between 34.5°S, 24°S and Above the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge From an Inverse Box Model

Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans (2023)

Cristina Arumí‐Planas M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Josep Lluís Pelegrí P. Vélez‐Belchí Mikhail Emelianov

Abstract The South Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in the heat exchange of the climate system, as it hosts the returning flow of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). To gain insights on this role, using data from three hydrographic cruises conducted in the South Atlantic Subtropical gyre at 34.5°S, 24°S, and 10°W, we identify water masses and compute absolute geostrophic circulation using inverse modeling. In the upper layers, the currents describe the South Atlantic anticyclonic gyre with the northwest flowing Benguela Current (26.3 ± 2.0 Sv at 34.5°S, and 21.2 ± 1.8 Sv at 24°S) flowing above the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between 22.4°S and 28.4°S (−19.2 ± 1.4 Sv), and the southward flowing Brazil Current (−16.5 ± 1.3 Sv at 34.5°S, and −7.3 ± 0.9 Sv at 24°S); the deep layers feature the southward transports of Deep Western Boundary Current (−13.9 ± 3.0 Sv at 34.5°S, and −8.7 ± 3.8 Sv at 24°S) and Deep Eastern Boundary Current (−15.1 ± 3.5 Sv at 34.5°S, and −16.3 ± 4.7 Sv at 24°S), with the interbasin west‐to‐east flow close to 24°S (7.5 ± 4.4 Sv); the abyssal waters present northward mass transports through the Argentina Basin (5.6 ± 1.1 Sv at 34.5°S, and 5.8 ± 1.5 Sv at 24°S) and Cape Basin (8.6 ± 3.5 Sv at 34.5°S–3.0 ± 0.8 Sv at 24°S) before returning southward (−2.2 ± 0.7 Sv at 24°S to −7.9 ± 3.6 Sv at 34.5°S), without any interbasin exchange across the MAR. In addition, we compute the upper AMOC strength (14.8 ± 1.0 and 17.5 ± 0.9 Sv), the equatorward heat transport (0.30 ± 0.05 and 0.80 ± 0.05 PW), and the freshwater flux (0.18 ± 0.02 and −0.07 ± 0.02 Sv) at 34.5°S and 24°S, respectively.

Boundary current

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Gulf Stream

Antarctic Intermediate Water

Anticyclone

10.1029/2022jc019614

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Citations (6)

Modeling underwater sound from future offshore wind farms southeast of Gran Canaria Island

Melania Cubas Armas Alonso Hernández‐Guerra Eric Delory David Dellong Verónica Caínzos

<p>The European Union aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the use of renewable energy. One clean energy source is the wind, and during the last decades, several countries have developed wind farms, not only on land but also in the ocean. Most offshore wind farms have been installed in shallow waters; however, recently, open ocean offshore floating wind farms are being installed in deep waters due to stronger and steadier wind occurring in these areas. Thus, offshore wind turbines are a potential new source of underwater noise. Noise can propagate underwater having the potential to affect marine mammals and fish, among others. Floating wind turbines are known to reduce the installation and decommissioning noise in contrast to fixed-bottom turbines but, nevertheless, the noise produced by the operation of the turbines and the anchoring systems have been scarcely studied, and it is still unknown whether added noise could significantly affect behavior or even hearing capacity in the long term. In the framework of the JONAS European project we anticipate a regional use case with a future installation of a commercial offshore wind farm, to determine how noise would propagate in the region, from installation to operation, and potentially impact (or not) local fauna, focusing initially on mammal groups. In this study, we use the RAM model (Range-dependent acoustic model) which is a parabolic equation (PE) code that calculates the propagation of sound in the ocean using the split-step Pad&#233; solution. RAM needs information about the temperature and salinity in the water column to calculate sound speed profiles, as well as the bathymetry and a geo-acoustic model of the bottom. It returns the transmission loss depending on the depth and distance to the source. We have applied the RAM model to an area located in the southeast of Gran Canaria Island, where a plan for a floating wind farm is under consideration. Results and suggestions about the negative impact on marine mammals known to live in this location are presented.</p>

Nuclear decommissioning

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12326

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Citations (0)

A Multi‐Data Set Analysis of the Freshwater Transport by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at Nominally 34.5°S

Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans (2024)

Cristina Arumí‐Planas Shenfu Dong Renellys C. Perez Matthew Harrison Riccardo Farneti

Abstract The freshwater transport ( M ov ) by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) across 34.5°S is computed using observations from 49 eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) transects between 2002 and 2019. The M ov at 34.5°S serves as a possible indicator of the AMOC stability, with a negative (southward) freshwater transport indicating a possible bistable AMOC regime and positive (northward) transport indicating a monostable regime. A negative M ov mean of −0.15 ± 0.09 Sv is estimated from the repeated XBT transects, suggesting a bistable AMOC regime. Results are complemented with two data sets derived from Argo float observations, numerical ocean models, and coupled climate models. More than half of the coupled models examined, 20 out of 32, present positive M ov mean values. To investigate the causes of the differing signs of the M ov across the models, we examine the salinity vertical structure in models with positive and negative M ov , indicating fresher upper and saltier deep waters in models with positive M ov . The South Atlantic meridional fluxes show linear relationships, with a negative slope (positively correlated in magnitude) between M ov /MOC and M ov /MHT, and a positive slope (positively correlated) between MHT/MOC. Seasonally, the South Atlantic meridional fluxes from most of the data sets considered here, show a more negative M ov and a more positive MOC and MHT in austral fall and winter from April to August across 34.5°S.

Bathythermograph

Argo

Forcing (mathematics)

Downwelling

10.1029/2023jc020558

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Citations (4)

Variability in the meridional overturning circulation at 32°S in the Pacific Ocean diagnosed by inverse box models

Progress In Oceanography (2022)

Cristina Arumí‐Planas Alonso Hernández‐Guerra Verónica Caínzos P. Vélez‐Belchí Riccardo Farneti

The meridional circulation and transport at 32°S in the Pacific Ocean in 1992 and 2017 are compared with analogous data from 2003 and 2009 computed by Hernández-Guerra and Talley (2016). The hydrographic data come from the GO-SHIP database and an inverse box model has been applied with similar constraints as in Hernández-Guerra and Talley (2016). In 1992, 2003 and 2017 the pattern of the overturning streamfunction and circulation are similar, but in 2009 the pattern of the circulation changes in the whole water column. The horizontal distribution of mass transports at all depths in 1992 and 2017 resembles the familiar shape of the "classical gyre" also observed in 2003 and is notably different to the "bowed gyre" found in 2009. The hydrographic data have been compared with data obtained from the numerical modelling outputs of ECCO, SOSE, GLORYS, and MOM. Results show that none of these models properly represents the "bowed gyre" circulation in 2009, and this change in circulation pattern was not observed during the entire length of model simulations. Additionally, the East Australian Current in the western boundary presents higher mass transport in the hydrographic data than in any numerical modelling output. Its poleward mass transport ranges from −35.1 ± 2.0 Sv in 1992 to −54.3 ± 2.6 Sv in 2003. Conversely, the Peru-Chile Current is well represented in models and presents an equatorward mass transport from 2.3 ± 0.8 Sv in 2009 to 4.4 ± 1.0 Sv in 1992. Furthermore, the Peru-Chile Undercurrent presents a more intense poleward mass transport in 2009 (−3.8 ± 1.2 Sv). In addition, the temperature and freshwater transports in 1992 (0.42 ± 0.12 PW and 0.26 ± 0.08 Sv), 2003 (0.38 ± 0.12 PW and 0.25 ± 0.02 Sv), and 2017 (0.42 ± 0.12 PW and 0.34 ± 0.08 Sv) are similar, but significantly different from those in 2009 (0.16 ± 0.12 PW and 0.50 ± 0.03 Sv, respectively). To clarify the causes of these different circulation schemes, a linear Rossby wave model is adopted, which includes the wind-stress curl variability as remote forcing and the response to sea surface height changes along 30°S.

Circulation (fluid dynamics)

Boundary current

Hydrographic survey

10.1016/j.pocean.2022.102780

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Citations (1)

Consistent picture of the horizontal circulation of the Atlantic Ocean over three decades

Verónica Caínzos M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Daniel Santana‐Toscano Cristina Arumí‐Planas Alonso Hernández‐Guerra

Abstract. The circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is marked by the complex system of pathways of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These currents change meridionally due to the interaction with nearby water masses. Hydrographic data provide the opportunity to characterize these currents for the whole water column with high-resolution data over the last thirty years. Moreover, inverse methods enable the quantification of absolute zonal transports across these sections, determining the strength of each current at a certain latitude in terms of mass, heat and freshwater, as well as their transport-weighted temperature and salinity. Generally, no changes can be found among decades for each of the currents in terms of transport or their properties. In the South Atlantic, the circulation describes the subtropical gyre affected by several recirculations. There are nearly 61 Sv entering from the Southern and Indian Oceans at 45° S. The South Atlantic subtropical gyre exports northward 17.0 ± 1.2 Sv and around 1 PW via the North Brazil Current and −55 Sv southward at 45° S into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In the north Atlantic, most of the transport is advected northward via the western boundary currents, which reduce in strength as they take part in convection processes in the subpolar North Atlantic, reflected also in the northward progress of mass and heat transport. Deep layers carry waters southward along the western boundary, maintaining similar values of mass and heat transport until the separation into an eastern branch crossing the mid-Atlantic ridge in the south Atlantic. Abyssal waters originating in the Southern Ocean distribute along the South Atlantic mainly through its western subbasin, flowing northward up to 24.5° N, subjected to an increasing trend in their temperature with time.

Boundary current

Gulf Stream

Antarctic Intermediate Water

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Abyssal zone

Atlantic Equatorial mode

10.5194/egusphere-2023-136

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Estimating the western North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre zonal currents in 2021 through single- and three-box inverse models

Progress In Oceanography (2025)

Daniel Santana‐Toscano M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Cristina Arumí‐Planas Alonso Hernández‐Guerra

10.1016/j.pocean.2025.103415

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Western Boundary of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre: Decadal Change

Daniel Santana‐Toscano M. Dolores Pérez‐Hernández Verónica Caínzos Melania Cubas Armas Cristina Arumí‐Planas

<p>The A20 is a meridional hydrographic section located at 52&#186;W on the western North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre that encloses the path of the water masses of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Using data from three A20 hydrographic cruises carried out in 1997, 2003 and 2012 together with LADCP-SADCP data and the velocities from an inverse box model, the circulation of the western North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is estimated. The main poleward current of the AMOC is the Gulf Stream (GS) which carries 129.0&#177;10.5 Sv in 2003 and 110.4&#177;12.2 Sv in 2012. Due to the seasonality, the GS position is shifted southward in 2012 - relative to that of 2003 - as both cruises took place in different seasons. In opposite direction, the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) crosses the section twice, first at 39.3-43.2&#186;N (-34.9&#177;7.5 Sv in 2003 and -25.3&#177;9.4 Sv in 2012) and then at 7.0-11.7&#186;N (42.0&#177;8.0 Sv in 2003 and 48.0&#177;8.1 Sv in 2012). Additionally, two zonal currents contribute with westward transport below 20&#186;N: the North Equatorial Current and the North Brazil Current; with a net value of -28.0&#177;4.1 Sv in 2003 and -36.7&#177;3.6 Sv in 2012.</p>

Boundary current

Gulf Stream

Antarctic Intermediate Water

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12120

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