Enhanced Gulf Stream Path Variability Under Intensified Stratification

Physics > Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [Submitted on 18 Jun 2026] Title:Enhanced Gulf Stream Path Variability Under Intensified Stratification View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:Increased upper-ocean stratification is an unavoidable consequence of global warming and will strongly impact the structure of ocean currents. Using a high-resolution ocean model, we show that intensification of stratification leads to the loss of coherence of the Gulf Stream Extension, replacing its steady eastward path with vigorous, chaotic meanders. This regime shift persists independently of changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and surface wind forcing. Enhanced meandering under intensified stratification also proves to be a robust feature across both idealized and realistic ocean models that resolve mesoscale eddies, but is not captured by coarse-resolution models that parameterize eddies. The presented findings therefore highlight the need for improved representations of oceanic turbulence in climate projections. Current browse context: physics.ao-ph Change to browse by: References & Citations Loading... Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Recommenders and Search Tools Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.