Extended Data Fig. 4: Sensitivity of the OSNAP-EAST overturning to surface heat fluxes.
From: Distinct sources of interannual subtropical and subpolar Atlantic overturning variability
Sensitivity of the OSNAP-EAST overturning in February 2007 to net surface heat fluxes [Sv per (W m-2 sustained over 1 hour)] at a lead time of nine years. Red shading indicates that heat flux into the ocean contributes to a delayed strengthening of the OSNAP-EAST overturning 9 years later. Blue shading indicates that cooling the ocean surface at that lead time causes a lagged strengthening of the OSNAP-EAST overturning. Notice the pattern tracking the Gulf Stream – North Atlantic Current advective pathway from the Caribbean to the subpolar latitudes. This long memory of past sea surface fluxes motivates the use of AMOC sensitivity to SST and SSS instead.
