Planetary trapped waves drive intercontinental and trans-basin oceanic teleconnections between South America and Africa

Planetary trapped waves drive intercontinental and trans-basin oceanic teleconnections between South America and Africa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Planetary trapped waves drive intercontinental and trans-basin oceanic teleconnections between South America and Africa Léa Poli, Camila Artana, Alex Costa da Silva, Clément Bricaud, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8842534/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Oceanic coastal trapped waves (CTWs), efficiently transmit energy over long distances and strongly influence coastal variability through their impacts on currents, temperature, and nutrient fluxes impacting marine ecosystems. Previous studies in the Atlantic demonstrate the conversion of Equatorial Kelvin Waves (EKWs) into CTWs at the eastern boundary of the Basin. However, the connection between the western boundary and the equatorial band receives much less attention. Here, we identify an intercontinental oceanic teleconnection linking South America and Africa through the equatorial and coastal wave guides. We show that intraseasonal CTWs propagate northward along the South American margin and occasionally reach the equator, where they convert into eastward-propagating EKWs. These signals cross the Atlantic and subsequently generate CTWs along the African coastlines, forming a continuous trapped-wave corridor connecting the continental margins. In some occasions the connection extends even further, some waves observed in the equatorial Atlantic can be track back to the Equatorial Pacific. The CTW activity exhibits strong seasonal and interannual modulation, controlled by background circulation and large-scale atmospheric forcing associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation, ENSO, and the Antarctic Oscillation. Our results reveal a previously undocumented pathway for oceanic connection across the tropical Atlantic, with potential implications for Atlantic Niño preconditioning. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Coastal trapped waves Equatorial Kelvin waves Intercontinental teleconexion Tropical Atlantic Remote and local drivers Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8842534","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":591027762,"identity":"52213a44-aa5c-45fe-9e83-c85c9dfadee1","order_by":0,"name":"Léa 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Previous studies in the Atlantic demonstrate the conversion of Equatorial Kelvin Waves (EKWs) into CTWs at the eastern boundary of the Basin. However, the connection between the western boundary and the equatorial band receives much less attention. Here, we identify an intercontinental oceanic teleconnection linking South America and Africa through the equatorial and coastal wave guides. We show that intraseasonal CTWs propagate northward along the South American margin and occasionally reach the equator, where they convert into eastward-propagating EKWs. These signals cross the Atlantic and subsequently generate CTWs along the African coastlines, forming a continuous trapped-wave corridor connecting the continental margins. In some occasions the connection extends even further, some waves observed in the equatorial Atlantic can be track back to the Equatorial Pacific. The CTW activity exhibits strong seasonal and interannual modulation, controlled by background circulation and large-scale atmospheric forcing associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation, ENSO, and the Antarctic Oscillation. 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