Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
10-29-2020
Journal
Scientific Reports
Volume
10
First Page
18553
Abstract
Through alteration of wave-generating atmospheric systems, global climate changes play a fundamental role in regional wave climate. However, long-term wave-climate cycles and their associated forcing mechanisms remain poorly constrained, in part due to a relative dearth of highly resolved archives. Here we use the morphology of former shorelines preserved in beach-foredune ridges (BFR) within a protected embayment to reconstruct changes in predominant wave directions in the Subtropical South Atlantic during the last ~ 3000 years. These analyses reveal multi-centennial cycles of oscillation in predominant wave direction in accordance with stronger (weaker) South Atlantic mid- to high-latitudes mean sea-level pressure gradient and zonal westerly winds, favouring wave generation zones in higher (lower) latitudes and consequent southerly (easterly) wave components. We identify the Southern Annular Mode as the primary climate driver responsible for these changes. Long-term variations in interhemispheric surface temperature anomalies coexist with oscillations in wave direction, which indicates the influence of temperature-driven atmospheric teleconnections on wave-generation cycles. These results provide a novel geomorphic proxy for paleoenvironmental reconstructions and present new insights into the role of global multi-decadal to multi-centennial climate variability in controlling coastal-ocean wave climate.
DOI
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75265-5
Keywords
Ocean science, palaeocenography, palaeoclimate
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Silva, A. P.; Klein, A. H. F.; Fetter-Filho, A. F. H.; Hein, Christopher J.; and et al, Climate-induced variability in South Atlantic wave direction over the past three millennia (2020). Scientific Reports, 10, 18553.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75265-5
Supplementary material
