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The nature and cause(s) of the Mid‐Pleistocene Transition (MPT) remain enigmatic. Notably, the role of tropical Pacific oceanographic changes during the late MPT (∼0.9–0.6 Ma) remains understudied. Here, we generated ∼1.4‐Myr‐long Mg/Ca and δ18O records for the planktonic foraminifer Trilobatus sacculifer from IODP Site U1490 to reconstruct sea‐surface temperature and regional seawater δ18O (ice‐volume‐corrected, a proxy for salinity) variation in the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP). We find that the WPWP was characterized by a gradual warming and slight freshening of surface waters at ∼0.9–0.6 Ma, caused by the Indonesian Throughflow weakening and consequent accumulation of oceanic heat. These effects were likely driven by sea‐level fall due to global icesheet expansion and/or Australian monsoonal intensification. The gradual warming signal was subsequently propagated eastward via strengthened North Equatorial Countercurrent, which may have acted as a positive climatic feedback, contributing to the expansion of the North American icesheet during the late MPT.

Previous studies have suggested that global ocean circulation would be significantly changed under global warming, while the change of North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) and its mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we investigate the location and intensity changes of NECC under global warming based on CESM1 high‐resolution long‐term simulations from the perspective of the Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), considering the close connection between NECC and ITCZ and well‐established changes of ITCZ. It is found that the annual‐mean NECC shifts equatorward of 0.39° and weakens by 21.71% in the RCP8.5 scenario at the end of 21st century. The NECC change is seasonally dependent, with maximum shift and weakening during spring, consistent with the changes of ITCZ. Both the location and intensity changes of ITCZ are important in the NECC changes, especially for spring. The weakening and equatorward shift of ITCZ contributes almost equally to the strongest decrease of spring NECC (47.63%). Plain Language Summary Global ocean circulation is suggested to exhibit significant changes under global warming, but whether and why the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) would change is still unclear. It is well known that the NECC and Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) are closely coupled through air‐sea interaction. Under global warming, previous studies found that the ITCZ would move closer to the equator with maximum shift in spring and the annual‐mean NECC would be weakened in response to the enhanced equatorial warming. Hence, it is important to investigate whether the NECC would change following the ITCZ change. Here, based on long‐term simulations from a high‐resolution climate model, it is found that the NECC will indeed move closer to the equator under global warming following the equatorward shift of ITCZ. The NECC also gets weakened under global warming following the weakened ITCZ convergence, although the ITCZ precipitation gets stronger due to more moisture under warming. In spring, the largest equatorward shift of ITCZ has a comparable contribution to the largest decrease of NECC. Key Points The North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) would be southward shift and weakened under global warming The future changes of NECC are seasonally dependent, with maximum southward shift and weakening in spring The NECC changes are closely related to the location and intensity changes of Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone, especially in spring

The interannual variations in salt flux on the 80°E section in the equatorial Indian Ocean were explored based on the ORAS5 data, which was quite consistent with the observational data among the four available reanalysis datasets. The results indicated that the area with significant interannual variations in salt flux coincided with that of significant climatological mean salt flux in general and was mainly located in the upper 150 m layer. Specifically, three important areas were identified in the north-south direction, i.e., (1) the Equatorial Indian Ocean Area (EIOA, 3°S–3°N), where the mean salt flux was eastward with the largest value on the section and associated with the most significant interannual variations mainly modulated by the Wyrtki Jets and the Equatorial Undercurrent; (2) the South Equatorial Indian Ocean Area (SEIOA, 3°S–6°S), where the mean salt flux changed in the vertical direction from strong eastward flux in the upper layer to weak westward flux in the subsurface layer and associated with significant interannual variations in the upper 100 m layer, which was affected by the South Equatorial Countercurrent; and (3) the North Equatorial Indian Ocean Area (NEIOA, 3°N–6°N), where the mean salt flux changed in the north-south direction from strong westward flux to the north of 5°N to weak eastward flux in the south and associated with relatively significant interannual variations, which was mainly influenced by the South Sri Lanka Coastal Current. Two leading interannual variation modes were revealed by the empirical orthogonal function decomposition. The first mode accounted for 39% of the total variance and had four significant spatial antinodes; two of those in-phase antinodes were located at SEIOA and upper 75 m of EIOA, and the other two opposite in-phase antinodes were located at NEIOA and below 75 m of EIOA. The second mode accounted for 17% of the total variance having four antinodes with two dominant out-of-phase antinodes located at the subsurface of EIOA and SEIOA. The temporal components of the two leading modes showed a 1–4 year variation with a main period of 2 years, in which the first mode showed a greater correlation with the Indian Ocean Dipole, while the second mode showed a weak correlation with the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Variance analysis showed that the interannual variations in salt flux were mainly determined by the variations in the current, and the spatial distribution was modulated by temporal mean salinity. Composite strong interannual events showed interannual variations in current, and so the salt flux was driven by the interannual anomaly of the wind field and sea surface temperature associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole.

The double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a long-standing bias in the climatology of coupled general circulation models (CGCMs). The warm biases in southeastern Pacific (SEP) sea surface temperature (SST) are also evident in many CGCMs. In this study, the role of SEP SST in the double ITCZ is investigated by prescribing the observed SEP SST in the Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1). Both the double ITCZ and dry equator problems are significantly improved with SEP SST prescribed. Both atmospheric and oceanic processes are involved in the improvements. The colder SST over the SEP decreases the precipitation, which enhances the southeasterly winds outside the prescribed SST region, cooling the ocean via increased evaporation. The enhanced descending motion over the SEP strengthens the Walker circulation. The easterly winds over the equatorial Pacific enhance upwelling and shoal the thermocline over the eastern Pacific. The changes of surface wind and wind curl lead to a weaker South Equatorial Countercurrent and stronger South Equatorial Current, preventing the warm water from expanding eastward, thereby improving both the double ITCZ and dry equator. The enhanced Walker circulation also increases the low-level wind convergence and reduces the wind speed in the tropical western Pacific, leading to warmer SST and stronger convection there. The stronger convection in turn leads to more cloud and reduces the incoming solar radiation, cooling the SST. These competing effects between radiative heat flux and latent heat flux make the atmospheric heat flux secondary to the ocean dynamics in the western Pacific warming.

The North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) is an eastward zonal current closely related to an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. This paper investigated the variations of NECC in the Western Pacific Ocean over 25 years (1993–2017) using satellite data provided by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and the Remote Sensing System (RSS). The first mode of empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis showed that the NECC strengthened or weakened in each El Niño (La Niña) event during the developing or mature phase, respectively. We also found that the NECC shifting was strongly coincidental with an ENSO event. During the developing phase of an El Niño (La Niña) event, the NECC shifted southward (northward), and afterward, when it entered the mature phase, the NECC tended to shift slightly northward (southward). Moreover, the NECC strength was found to have undergone a weakening during the 2008–2017 period.

The impact of tropical Atlantic Ocean variability modes in the variability of the upper-ocean circulation has been investigated. For this purpose, we use three oceanic reanalyses, an interannual forced-ocean simulation, and satellite data for the period 1982–2018. We have explored the changes in the main surface and subsurface ocean currents during the emergence of Atlantic meridional mode (AMM), Atlantic zonal mode (AZM), and AMM–AZM connection. The developing phase of the AMM is associated with a boreal spring intensification of North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) and a reinforced summer Eastern Equatorial Undercurrent (EEUC) and north South Equatorial Current (nSEC). During the decaying phase, the reduction of the wind forcing and zonal sea surface height gradient produces a weakening of surface circulation. For the connected AMM–AZM, in addition to the intensified NECC, EEUC, and nSEC in spring, an anomalous north-equatorial wind curl excites an oceanic Rossby wave (RW) that is boundary-reflected into an equatorial Kelvin wave (KW). The KW reverses the thermocline slope, weakening the nSEC and EUC in boreal summer and autumn, respectively. During the developing spring phase of the AZM, the nSEC is considerably reduced with no consistent impact at subsurface levels. During the autumn decaying phase, the upwelling RW-reflected mechanism is activated, modifying the zonal pressure gradient that intensifies the nSEC. The NECC is reduced in boreal spring–summer. Our results reveal a robust alteration of the upper-ocean circulation during AMM, AZM, and AMM–AZM, highlighting the decisive role of ocean waves in connecting the tropical and equatorial ocean transport.

This study uses a new distance metric to define the boundaries of Eastern Subtropical Mode Water (ESTMW), Subtropical Mode Water (STMW), and Central Mode Water (CMW) in the North Pacific based on orthogonal potential density-potential spicity (sigma-pi, σ-π) space. The distance metrics well capture the core and more stable part of mode waters and provide an efficient approach to identifying subduction regions. Different from the other two, the ESTMW directly connects the subtropics and tropics in the North Pacific, affecting the ocean’s vertical thermal structure along its pathway. The distribution of small σ-π distance on 24.7 kg m − 3 isopycnal surface suggests that the ESTMW transports from the subtropics to the equatorial region by a stable Central Pathway and an unstable Western Pathway. In addition, part of ESTMW moves eastward along the Western Pathway in the western tropics to join the Central Pathway and ultimately flows to the equatorial Eastern Pacific through the Central Pathway. The intensity of the North Equatorial Current and North Equatorial Countercurrent, especially the latter, determines the existence of the Western Pathway. Our findings suggest that the σ-π distance metric provides a new insight into water mass transport pathway study.

Full-depth ocean zonal currents in the tropical and extratropical northwestern Pacific (TNWP) are studied using current measurements from 17 deep-ocean moorings deployed along the 143°E meridian from the equator to 22°N during January 2016–February 2017. Mean transports of the North Equatorial Current and North Equatorial Countercurrent are estimated to be 42.7 ± 7.1 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 10 6 m 3 s −1 ) and 10.5 ± 5.3 Sv, respectively, both of which exhibit prominent annual cycles with opposite phases in this year. The observations suggest much larger vertical extents of several of the major subsurface currents than previously reported, including the Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current, Northern Intermediate Countercurrent, North Equatorial Subsurface Current, and North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC) from south to north. The Northern Subsurface Countercurrent and NEUC are found to be less steady than the other currents. Seasonal variations of these currents are also revealed in the study. In the deep ocean, the currents below 2000 m are reported for the first time. The observations confirm the striation patterns of meridionally alternating zonal currents in the intermediate and deep layers. Further analyses suggest a superposition of at least the first four and two baroclinic modes to represent the mean equatorial and off-equatorial currents, respectively. Meanwhile, seasonal variations of the currents are generally dominated by the first baroclinic mode associated with the low-mode Rossby waves. Overall, the above observational results not only enhance the knowledge of full-depth current system in the TNWP but also provide a basis for future model validation and skill improvement.

Low-order linear inverse models (LIMs) have been shown to be competitive with comprehensive coupled atmosphere–ocean models at reproducing many aspects of tropical oceanic variability and predictability. This paper presents an extended cyclostationary linear inverse model (CS-LIM) that includes the annual cycles of the background state and stochastic forcing of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) anomalies. Compared to a traditional stationary LIM that ignores such annual cycles, the CS-LIM is better at representing the seasonal modulation of ENSO-related SST anomalies and their phase locking to the annual cycle. Its deterministic as well as probabilistic hindcast skill is comparable to the skill of the North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) of comprehensive global coupled models. The explicit inclusion of annual-cycle effects in the CS-LIM improves the forecast skill of both SST and SSH anomalies through SST–SSH coupling. The impact on the SSH skill is particularly marked at longer forecast lead times over the western Pacific and in the vicinity of the Pacific North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC), consistent with westward propagating oceanic Rossby waves that reflect off the western boundaries as eastward propagating Kelvin waves and influence El Niño development in the region. The higher CS-LIM skill is thus associated with the improved representation of both ENSO phase-locking and Pacific NECC variations. These improvements result from explicitly accounting for not only the annual cycle of the background state, but also that of the stochastic forcing.

The North Equatorial Subsurface Current (NESC) is a subthermocline ocean current uncovered recently in the tropical Pacific Ocean, flowing westward below the North Equatorial Countercurrent. In this study, the dynamics of the seasonal cycle of this current are studied using historical shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler measurements and Argo absolute geostrophic currents. Both data show a westward current at the depths of 200–1000 m between 4° and 6°N, with a typical core speed of about 5 and 2 cm s −1 , respectively. The subsurface current originates in the eastern Pacific, with its core descending to deeper isopycnal surfaces and moving to the equator as it flows westward. The zonal velocity of the NESC shows pronounced seasonal variability, with the annual-cycle harmonics of vertical isothermal displacement and zonal velocity presenting characters of vertically propagating baroclinic Rossby waves. A simple analytical Rossby wave model is employed to simulate the propagation of the seasonal variations of the westward zonal currents successfully, which is the basis for exploring the wind forcing dynamics. The results suggest that the wind curl forcing in the central-eastern basin between 170° and 140°W associated with the meridional movement of the intertropical convergence zone dominates the NESC seasonal variability in the western Pacific, with the winds west of 170°W and east of 140°W playing a minor role in the forcing.