Diverse responses of upper ocean temperatures to chlorophyll-induced solar absorption across different coastal upwelling regions

Meng, Siyu, Webber, Benjamin G. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8812-5929, Stevens, David P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7283-4405, Joshi, Manoj ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2948-2811, Palmieri, Julien and Yool, Andrew (2024) Diverse responses of upper ocean temperatures to chlorophyll-induced solar absorption across different coastal upwelling regions. Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (19). ISSN 0094-8276

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Abstract

Chlorophyll in phytoplankton absorbs solar radiation (SR) and affects the thermal structure and dynamics within upwelling regions. However, research on this process across global-scale coastal upwelling systems is still lacking. Here, we use a coupled ocean-biogeochemical model to investigate differing responses to chlorophyll-induced solar absorption between Pacific and Atlantic coastal upwelling regions. Chlorophyll-induced solar absorption leads to colder Pacific coastal upwelling but warmer Atlantic coastal upwelling. In the Pacific, the shading effect of the surface chlorophyll maximum leads to colder subsurface water, which is then upwelled, contributing to cooling. The more stratified upper ocean leads to shallower mixed layer depth, intensifying offshore transport and upwelling. In the Atlantic, the absorption of SR by the subsurface chlorophyll maximum causes warmer and weaker upwelling. The processes described, in turn, trigger positive feedback to ocean biogeochemistry and potentially interact with climate dynamics, underscoring the necessity to incorporate them into Earth system models.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: Model: The NEMO ocean engine is publicly available at Madec and NEMO team (2016), and MEDUSA description can be found at Yool et al. (2013). Model output and the data used for the figures, along with the relevant MATLAB codes, are available at Meng (2024). Data set: Level-3 Mapped Chl-a data from MODIS-Aqua ocean color observation are available at NASA OBPG (2022). Software: Model output analysis and visualization are performed using the MATLAB R2021 available at The MathWorks, Inc. (2021), with license (846201) offered by University of East Anglia. Funding information: This work is funded by the Project–Impacts of Pacific Ocean warming trends (ImPOse, NERC Reference: NE/W005239/1). The first author, Siyu Meng is funded by the International Cooperative Training Programs by China Scholarship Council (Certification No.202106330016) and University of East Anglia.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Fluids & Structures Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Numerical Simulation, Statistics & Data Science
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2024 09:30
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2024 01:02
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/96939
DOI:	10.1029/2024GL109714

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