01714nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001653001700042653001900059653001900078653002200097653001800119100001800137700002100155700001500176700001300191700002700204700001400231700001900245700001600264700001900280245007300299856007300372300001800445490000700463520096600470       2020                            d10aforaminifera10aindustrial era10aNorth Atlantic10aocean circulation10aSubpolar gyre1 aPeter Spooner1 aDavid Thornalley1 aDelia Oppo1 aAlan Fox1 aSvetlana Radionovskaya1 aNeil Rose1 aRobbie Mallett1 aEmma Cooper1 aMurray Roberts00aExceptional 20th Century Ocean Circulation in the Northeast Atlantic  uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020GL087577  ae2020GL0875770 v473 aAbstract The North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) connects tropical and high-latitude waters, playing a leading role in deep-water formation, propagation of Atlantic water into the Arctic, and as habitat for many ecosystems. Instrumental records spanning recent decades document significant decadal variability in SPG circulation, with associated hydrographic and ecological changes. Emerging longer-term records provide circumstantial evidence that the North Atlantic also experienced centennial trends during the 20th century. Here, we use marine sediment records to show that there has been a long-term change in SPG circulation during the industrial era, largely during the 20th century. Moreover, we show that the shift and late 20th century SPG configuration were unprecedented in the last 10,000~years. Recent SPG dynamics resulted in an expansion of subtropical ecosystems into new habitats and likely also altered the transport of heat to high latitudes.