《Earthquakes as a potential contributing factor to climate change at multidecadal scale》.pdfVIP

Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions Volume 6, Issue 2, April, 2014 Citation: Fang KY, Heikki Seppä, 2014. Earthquakes as a potential contributing factor to climate change at multi‐decadal scale. Sciences in  Cold and Arid Regions, 6(2): 0131–0138. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2014.00131.  Earthquakes as a potential contributing factor to climate change at multi-decadal scale * KeYan Fang , Heikki Seppä Department of Geosciences and Geography, PO Box 64, 00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland *Correspondence to: KeYan Fang, Department of Geosciences and Geography, PO Box 64, 00014 University of Hel- sinki, Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: kujanfang@ Received: April 14, 2013 Accepted: December 4, 2013 ABSTRACT Climate changes at the multi-decadal scale are often associated with multi-decadal phase shifts of the dominant sea surface temperature (SST) pattern, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The PDO may be associated with the North Pacific branch of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC). Great earthquakes (M 8), particularly along the route of the THC, might modulate the vertical mixing and bring deep, cold water to surface, contributing to multi-decadal changes in surface currents and the PDO. This may eventually lead to multi-decadal climate changes. We tested this hypothesis for the Pacific Ocean where great earthquakes have been frequently recorded. We found associations between the PDO and recurrent earthquakes along the route of the deep currents of the THC in the modern peri