Beaufort Gyre freshwater reservoir: State and variability from observations
Andrey Proshutinsky,Richard A. Krishfield,Mary-Louise Timmermans,John M. Toole,Eddy C. Carmack,Fiona A. McLaughlin,William J. Williams,Sarah Zimmermann,Motoyo Itoh,Koji Shimada +9 more
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In this paper, the authors investigated basin-scale mechanisms regulating anomalies in freshwater content (FWC) in the Beaufort Gyre (BG) of the Arctic Ocean using historical observations and data collected in 2003-2007.Abstract:
[1] We investigate basin-scale mechanisms regulating anomalies in freshwater content (FWC) in the Beaufort Gyre (BG) of the Arctic Ocean using historical observations and data collected in 2003–2007. Specifically, the mean annual cycle and interannual and decadal FWC variability are explored. The major cause of the large FWC in the BG is the process of Ekman pumping (EP) due to the Arctic High anticyclonic circulation centered in the BG. The mean seasonal cycle of liquid FWC is a result of interplay between the mechanical (EP) and thermal (ice transformations) factors and has two peaks. One peak occurs around June–July when the sea ice thickness reaches its minimum (maximum ice melt). The second maximum is observed in November–January when wind curl is strongest (maximum EP) and the salt input from the growing ice has not yet reached its maximum. Interannual changes in FWC during 2003–2007 are characterized by a strong positive trend in the region varying by location with a maximum of approximately 170 cm a � 1 in the center of EP influenced region. Decadal FWC variability in the period 1950–2000 is dominated by a significant change in the 1990s forced by an atmospheric circulation regime change. The center of maximum FWC shifted to the southeast and appeared to contract in area relative to the pre-1990s climatology. In spite of the areal reduction, the spatially integrated FWC increased by over 1000 km 3 relative to climatology.read more
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Changing Arctic Ocean freshwater pathways
James H. Morison,Ron Kwok,Cecilia Peralta-Ferriz,Matthew B. Alkire,Ignatius Rigor,Roger Andersen,Michael Steele +6 more
TL;DR: It is confirmed that runoff is an important influence on the Arctic Ocean and established that the spatial and temporal manifestations of the runoff pathways are modulated by the Arctic Oscillation, rather than the strength of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre circulation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Arctic Ocean microbial community structure before and after the 2007 record sea ice minimum.
TL;DR: Overall this layer of the Beaufort Sea has freshened and concentrations of nitrate, the limiting nutrient for photosynthetic production in Arctic seas, have decreased, suggesting that the microbial food webs are sensitive to physical oceanographic changes such as those occurring in the Canadian Arctic over the past decade.
Journal ArticleDOI
Arctic freshwater export: Status, mechanisms, and prospects
Thomas W. N. Haine,Beth Curry,Rüdiger Gerdes,Edmond Hansen,Michael Karcher,Craig M. Lee,Bert Rudels,Gunnar Spreen,Laura de Steur,K. D. Stewart,Rebecca A. Woodgate +10 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the sources and sinks of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean during the decade of the 2000s and found that the amount of freshwater stored in the Beaufort Gyre increased by about 25% in the decade between 2000 and 2011.
Journal ArticleDOI
Arctic sea ice circulation and drift speed: Decadal trends and ocean currents
Ron Kwok,Gunnar Spreen,S. Pang +2 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the basinwide trends in sea ice circulation and drift speed and highlighted the changes between 1982 and 2009 in connection to regional winds, multi-year sea ice coverage, ice export, and the thinning of the ice cover.
Journal ArticleDOI
Freshwater and its role in the Arctic Marine System: Sources, disposition, storage, export, and physical and biogeochemical consequences in the Arctic and global oceans
Edward C. Carmack,Michiyo Yamamoto-Kawai,Thomas W. N. Haine,Sheldon Bacon,Bodil A. Bluhm,Camille Lique,Camille Lique,Humfrey Melling,Igor V. Polyakov,Fiamma Straneo,Mary-Louise Timmermans,William J. Williams +11 more
TL;DR: The Arctic Ocean is a fundamental node in the global hydrological cycle and the ocean's thermohaline circulation as discussed by the authors, and its key functions and processes include the delivery of fresh and low-salinity waters to the Arctic Ocean by river inflow, net precipitation, distillation during the freeze/thaw cycle, and Pacific Ocean inflows.
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