Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changes in mixed layer depth and spring bloom in the Kuroshio extension under global warming

  • Published:
Advances in Atmospheric Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The mixed layer is deep in January–April in the Kuroshio Extension region. This paper investigates the response in this region of mixed layer depth (MLD) and the spring bloom initiation to global warming using the output of 15 models from CMIP5. The models indicate that in the late 21st century the mixed layer will shoal, and the MLD reduction will be most pronounced in spring at about 33°N on the southern edge of the present deep-MLD region. The advection of temperature change in the upper 100 m by the mean eastward flow explains the spatial pattern of MLD shoaling in the models. Associated with the shoaling mixed layer, the onset of spring bloom inception is projected to advance due to the strengthened stratification in the warming climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Behrenfeld, M. J., 2010: Abandoning Sverdrup’s critical depth hypothesis on phytoplankton blooms. Ecology, 91(4), 977–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boss, E., and M. Behrenfeld, 2010: In situ evaluation of the initiation of the North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom. Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L18603, doi: 10.1029/2010GL044174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswell, S. M., 2011: Annual cycles and spring blooms in phytoplankton: Don’t abandon Sverdrup completely. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 443, 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswell, S. M., P. H. R. Calil, and P. W. Boyd, 2015: Spring blooms and annual cycles of phytoplankton: a unified perspective. Journal of Plankton Research, 37(3), 500–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, A. E., 1982: Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics. Academic press, 662 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hashioka, T., T. T. Sakamoto, and Y. Yamanaka, 2009: Potential impact of global warming on north Pacific spring blooms projected by an eddy-permitting 3-D ocean ecosystem model. Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L20604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Held, I. M., M. Winton, K. Takahashi, T. Delworth, F. R. Zeng, and G. K. Vallis, 2010: Probing the fast and slow components of global warming by returning abruptly to preindustrial forcing. J. Climate, 23(9), 2418–2427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J. E. F., P. van Oostveen, and F. J. Weissing, 1999: Critical depth and critical turbulence: Two different mechanisms for the development of phytoplankton blooms. Limnology and Oceanography, 44(7), 1781–1787.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kara, A. B., P. A. Rochford, and H. E. Hurlburt, 2003: Mixed layer depth variability over the global ocean. J. Geophys. Res., 108, 3079, doi: 10.1029/2000C000736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus, E. B., and J. S. Turner, 1967: A one-dimensional model of the seasonal thermocline II. The general theory and its consequences. Tellus, 19(1), 98–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus, E. B., and J. A. Businger, 1995: Atmosphere-Ocean Interaction, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 362 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, S.-M., S.-P. Xie, X.-T. Zheng, and Q. Y. Liu, 2014: Fast and slow responses to global warming: Sea surface temperature and precipitation patterns. J. Climate, 27(1), 285–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, Y. Y., Q. Y. Liu, and L. M. Rothstein, 2009: Simulated response of north Pacific mode waters to global warming. Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L23609, doi: 10.1029/2009GL040906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, K., and J. Lazier, 2005: Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Oceans. Wiley-Blackwell, 496 pp.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Murtugudde, R., J. Beauchamp, C. R. McClain, M. Lewis, and A. J. Busalacchi, 2002: Effects of penetrative radiation on the upper tropical Ocean circulation. J. Climate, 15(5), 470–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakamoto, S., S. P. Kumar, J. M. Oberhuber, J. Ishizaka, K. Muneyama, and R. Frouin, 2001: Response of the equatorial Pacific to chlorophyll pigment in a mixed layer isopycnal ocean general circulation model. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28(10), 2021–2024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu, B., and K. A. Kelly, 1993: Upper-ocean heat balance in the Kuroshio extension region. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 23(9), 2027–2041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu, B., N. Schneider, and S. M. Chen, 2007: Coupled decadal variability in the north pacific: An observationally constrained idealized model. J. Climate, 20(14), 3602–3620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakamoto, T. T., H. Hasumi, M. Ishii, S. Emori, T. Suzuki, T. Nishimura, and A. Sumi, 2005: Responses of the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio extension to global warming in a highresolution climate model. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L14617, doi: 10.1029/2005GL023384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sato, Y., S. Yukimoto, H. Tsujino, H. Ishizaki, and A. Noda, 2006: Response of North Pacific Ocean circulation in a Kuroshioresolving ocean model to an Arctic Oscillation (AO)-like change in Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation due to greenhouse-gas forcing. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 84, 295–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sverdrup, H. U., 1953: On conditions for the vernal blooming of phytoplankton. Journal du Conseil International Pour l’Exploration de la Mer, 18(3), 287–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi, B., S.-P. Xie, N. Schneider, M. Nonaka, H. Sasaki, and Y. Sasai, 2007: Decadal variability of the Kuroshio extension: observations and an eddy-resolving model hindcast. J. Climate, 20(11), 2357–2377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J. R., and R. Ferrari, 2011: Shutdown of turbulent convection as a new criterion for the onset of spring phytoplankton blooms. Limnology and Oceanography, 56(6), 2293–2307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, K. E., R. J. Stouffer, and G. A. Meehl, 2012: An overview of CMIP5 and the experiment design. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93(4), 485–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vecchi, G. A., and B. J. Soden, 2007: Global warming and the weakening of the tropical circulation. J. Climate, 20(17), 4316–4340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, L., Z. Liu, R. Gallimore, R. Jacob, D. Lee, and Y. Zhong, 2003: Pacific decadal variability: The tropical Pacific mode and the north Pacific mode. J. Climate, 16(8), 1101–1120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, L. X., and Coauthors, 2012: Enhanced warming over the global subtropical western boundary currents. Nature Climate Change, 2(3), 161–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, S.-P., C. Deser, G. A. Vecchi, J. Ma, H. Y. Teng, and A. T. Wittenberg, 2010: Global warming pattern formation: Sea surface temperature and rainfall. J. Climate, 23(4), 966–986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, L. X., S.-P. Xie, and Q. Y. Liu, 2012: Mode water ventilation and subtropical countercurrent over the north Pacific in CMIP5 simulations and future projections. J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 117, C12009, doi: 10.1029/2012JC008377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, L. X., S.-P. Xie, and Q. Y. Liu, 2013: Fast and slow responses of the north Pacific mode water and subtropical countercurrent to global warming. Journal of Ocean University of China, 12(2), 216–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, L. X., S.-P. Xie, J. L. McClean, Q. Y. Liu, and H. Sasaki, 2014: Mesoscale eddy effects on the subduction of north Pacific mode waters. J. Geophys. Res., 119, 4867–4886, doi: 10.1002/2014JC009861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yentsch, C. S., 1990: Estimates of ‘new production’ in the Mid-North Atlantic. Journal of Plankton Research, 12, 717–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yim, B. Y., Y. Noh, S. W. Yeh, J. S. Kug, H. S. Min, and B. Qiu, 2013: Ocean mixed layer processes in the Pacific decadal oscillation in coupled general circulation models. Climate Dyn., 41(5–6), 1407–1417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, L., X. Jin, and R. A. Weller, 2006: Role of net surface heat flux in seasonal variations of sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. J. Climate, 19(23), 6153–6169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Oceanography Laboratory/Qingdao Collaborative Innovation Center of Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction and Climate in Universities of Shandong, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Ruosi Zhang, Shang-Ping Xie, Lixiao Xu & Qinyu Liu

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Shang-Ping Xie

Authors
  1. Ruosi Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shang-Ping Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lixiao Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Qinyu Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shang-Ping Xie.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, R., Xie, SP., Xu, L. et al. Changes in mixed layer depth and spring bloom in the Kuroshio extension under global warming. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 33, 452–461 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-015-5113-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-015-5113-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation