Abstract Using an atmosphere model of intermediate complexity and a hierarchy of ocean models, the dominant modes of interannual and decadal variability in the South Atlantic Ocean are studied. The atmosphere Simplified Parameterizations Primitive Equation Dynamics (SPEEDY) model has T30L7 resolution. The physical package consists of a set of simplified physical parameterization schemes, based on the same principles adopted in the schemes of state-of-the-art AGCMs. It is at least an order of magnitude faster, whereas the quality of the simulated climate compares well with those models. The hierarchy of ocean models consists of simple mixed layer models with an increasing number of physical processes involved such as Ekman transport, wind-induced mixing, and wind-driven barotropic transport. Finally, the atmosphere model is coupled to a regional version of the Miami Isopycnal Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) covering the South Atlantic with a horizontal resolution of 1° and 16 vertical layers. The coupled modes of mean sea level pressure and sea surface temperature simulated by SPEEDY–MICOM strongly resemble the modes as analyzed from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis, indicating that this model configuration possesses the required physical mechanisms for generating these modes of variability. Using the ocean model hierarchy the authors were able to show that turbulent heat fluxes, Ekman transport, and wind-induced mixing contribute to the generation of the dominant modes of coupled SST variability. The different roles of these terms in generating these modes are analyzed. Variations in the wind-driven barotropic transport mainly seem to affect the SST variability in the Brazil–Malvinas confluence zone. The spectra of the mixed layer models appeared to be too red in comparison with the fully coupled SPEEDY–MICOM model due to the too strong coupling between SST and surface air temperatures (SATs), resulting from the inability to advect and subduct SST anomalies by the mixed layer models. In SPEEDY–MICOM anomalies in the ...