Warming and salinity changes of the upper ocean Caribbean through-flow since 1960.

ABSTRACT: The Caribbean through-flow (CTF) is a vital component of Earth's climate system, facilitating and impacted by heat and salt fluxes from major circulation systems like the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (NASTG) and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Here, we show significant changes have occurred in upper ocean water mass properties of the CTF since 1960, including subsurface warming of ~ 0.2 °C decade-1, surface freshening of ~ 0.13 g kg-1 decade-1, and subsurface salinification of ~ 0.05 g kg-1 decade-1. In the upper 0-200 m, temperature and stability increases are nearly 3 and 20 times larger than globally averaged trends, respectively, with implications for tropical cyclones, sea level rise, and marine ecosystems. We show these upper ocean changes are likely impacting

SUBMITTER: Gradone JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12222509 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature