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On the origin of water masses in the Beaufort Gyre

On the origin of water masses in the Beaufort Gyre
On the origin of water masses in the Beaufort Gyre
The Beaufort Gyre is a key feature of the Arctic Ocean, acting as a reservoir for freshwater in the region. Depending on whether the prevailing atmospheric circulation in the Arctic is anticyclonic or cyclonic, either a net accumulation or release of freshwater occurs. The sources of freshwater to the Arctic Ocean are well established and include contributions from the North American and Eurasian Rivers, the Bering Strait Pacific water inflow, sea ice meltwater, and precipitation, but their contribution to the Beaufort Gyre freshwater accumulation varies with changes in the atmospheric circulation. Here we use a Lagrangian backward tracking technique in conjunction with the 1/12‐degree resolution Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean model to investigate how sources of freshwater to the Beaufort Gyre have changed in recent decades, focusing on increase in the Pacific water content in the gyre between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Using empirical orthogonal functions we analyze the change in the Arctic oceanic circulation that occurred between the 1980s and 2000s. We highlight a “waiting room” advective pathway that was present in the 1980s and provide evidence that this pathway was caused by a shift in the center of Ekman transport convergence in the Arctic. We discuss the role of these changes as a contributing factor to changes in the stratification, and hence potentially the biology, of the Beaufort Gyre region.
2169-9275
4696-4709
Kelly, S.J.
5e453908-a436-4e72-87c0-8ddf1a18e53b
Proshutinsky, A.
4bcefc55-ebd2-4a60-a681-5d5eadcc2a83
Popova, E.K.
3ea572bd-f37d-4777-894b-b0d86f735820
Aksenov, Y.K.
1d277047-06f6-4893-8bcf-c2817a9c848e
Yool, A.
882aeb0d-dda0-405e-844c-65b68cce5017
Kelly, S.J.
5e453908-a436-4e72-87c0-8ddf1a18e53b
Proshutinsky, A.
4bcefc55-ebd2-4a60-a681-5d5eadcc2a83
Popova, E.K.
3ea572bd-f37d-4777-894b-b0d86f735820
Aksenov, Y.K.
1d277047-06f6-4893-8bcf-c2817a9c848e
Yool, A.
882aeb0d-dda0-405e-844c-65b68cce5017

Kelly, S.J., Proshutinsky, A., Popova, E.K., Aksenov, Y.K. and Yool, A. (2019) On the origin of water masses in the Beaufort Gyre. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124 (7), 4696-4709. (doi:10.1029/2019JC015022).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Beaufort Gyre is a key feature of the Arctic Ocean, acting as a reservoir for freshwater in the region. Depending on whether the prevailing atmospheric circulation in the Arctic is anticyclonic or cyclonic, either a net accumulation or release of freshwater occurs. The sources of freshwater to the Arctic Ocean are well established and include contributions from the North American and Eurasian Rivers, the Bering Strait Pacific water inflow, sea ice meltwater, and precipitation, but their contribution to the Beaufort Gyre freshwater accumulation varies with changes in the atmospheric circulation. Here we use a Lagrangian backward tracking technique in conjunction with the 1/12‐degree resolution Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean model to investigate how sources of freshwater to the Beaufort Gyre have changed in recent decades, focusing on increase in the Pacific water content in the gyre between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Using empirical orthogonal functions we analyze the change in the Arctic oceanic circulation that occurred between the 1980s and 2000s. We highlight a “waiting room” advective pathway that was present in the 1980s and provide evidence that this pathway was caused by a shift in the center of Ekman transport convergence in the Arctic. We discuss the role of these changes as a contributing factor to changes in the stratification, and hence potentially the biology, of the Beaufort Gyre region.

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Accepted/In Press date: 18 June 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 June 2019
Published date: July 2019

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 433629
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433629
ISSN: 2169-9275
PURE UUID: 9affd5c5-ea4c-458f-865a-d6ba42eced67

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Date deposited: 28 Aug 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 08:08

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Contributors

Author: S.J. Kelly
Author: A. Proshutinsky
Author: E.K. Popova
Author: Y.K. Aksenov
Author: A. Yool

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