A decade of continuous Rockall Trough transport observations using moorings and gliders

Abstract

The Rockall Trough, northwest of Scotland and Ireland, is a key conduit for the North Atlantic Current (NAC) and European Slope Current (ESC) transporting heat and salt toward the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean while mediating exchanges between the open ocean and the European shelf. We present a decade-long record of Rockall Trough circulation from the Ellett Array providing the first continuous estimates of heat and freshwater transport between 2014 and 2024. We develop a methodology that combines the high spatial resolution of gliders with the high temporal resolution of moorings and ocean reanalysis output producing continuous eastern boundary velocity fields of the ESC for integration into the full Rockall Trough transport product. This approach improves the mean structure of the ESC, capturing the southward undercurrent previously unresolved and enhancing the ability to reproduce extreme, likely mesoscale, transport events. The Rockall Trough transport is dominated by the NAC flowing through the mid basin, exhibiting multi-year variability consistent with changes in the subpolar gyre and the mid-2010s cold freshwater anomaly. The ESC acts as a secondary driver, is not correlated with the NAC and is influenced by along-slope wind stress. Since 2022, warmer and saltier conditions, amplified by the 2023 extreme North Atlantic marine heatwave, have strengthened northward volume, heat, and salt transport through the Ellett Array. Our results highlight the value of sustained glider-based boundary current observations for Atlantic climate monitoring and demonstrate that the combined mooring–glider framework provides a robust and transferable approach for long-term ocean transport monitoring.

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