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Continental drift shifts tropical rainfall by altering radiation and ocean heat transport.

ABSTRACT: Shifts in the position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) have great importance for weather, climate, and society. The ITCZ shifts have been extensively studied in current and future warmer climate; however, little is known for its migration in the past on geological time scales. Using an ensemble of climate simulations over the past 540 million years, we show that ITCZ migrations are controlled primarily by continental configuration through two competing pathways: hemispheric radiation asymmetry and cross-equatorial ocean heat transport. The hemispheric asymmetry of absorbed solar radiation is produced mainly by land-ocean albedo contrast, which can be predicted using only the landmass distribution. The cross-equatorial ocean heat transport is strongly associated with the hemispheric asymmetry of surface wind stress, which is, in turn, controlled by the hemispheric asymmetry of ocean surface area. These results allow the influence of continental evolution on global ocean-atmosphere circulations to be understood through simple mechanisms that depend primarily on the latitudinal distribution of land.

SUBMITTER: Han J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9995037 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Continental drift shifts tropical rainfall by altering radiation and ocean heat transport.

Han Jing J Nie Ji J Hu Yongyun Y Boos William R WR Liu Yonggang Y Yang Jun J Yuan Shuai S Li Xiang X Guo Jiaqi J Lan Jiawenjing J Lin Qifan Q Bao Xiujuan X Wei Mengyu M Li Zhibo Z Man Kai K Yin Zihan Z

Science advances 20230308 10

Shifts in the position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) have great importance for weather, climate, and society. The ITCZ shifts have been extensively studied in current and future warmer climate; however, little is known for its migration in the past on geological time scales. Using an ensemble of climate simulations over the past 540 million years, we show that ITCZ migrations are controlled primarily by continental configuration through two competing pathways: hemispheric radiatio ...[more]

PMID: 36888715

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Continental drift shifts tropical rainfall by altering radiation and ocean heat transport.

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Continental drift shifts tropical rainfall by altering radiation and ocean heat transport.

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