Mesoscale eddies over the Laptev Sea continental slope in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract:

Mesoscale eddies are an important component in Arctic Ocean dynamics and can play a role in vertical redistribution of ocean heat from the intermediate layer of warm Atlantic Water (AW). We analyze mooring data collected along the continental slope of the Laptev Sea in 2007-11 to improve the characterization of Arctic mesoscale eddies in this region of the Eurasian Basin (EB).
Wavelet analyses suggest that ~20% of the mooring record is occupied by mesoscale eddies, whose vertical scales can be large, often >600 m. Based on similarity between temperature/salinity profiles measured inside eddies and modern climatology for the 2000s, we found two distinct sources of eddy formation in the EB; one in the vicinity of Fram Strait and the other at the continental slope of the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago. Both sources of eddies are on the route of AW propagation along the EB margins, so that the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current (ACBC) can carry these eddies along the continental slope.
The lateral advection of waters isolated inside the eddy cores by ACBC affect the heat and salt balance of the eastern EB. The average temperature anomaly inside Fram Strait eddies in the layer above the AW temperature core (i.e., above 350 m depth level) was ~0.1º C with the strongest temperature anomaly in this layer exceeding 0.5ºC. In contrast to Fram Strait eddies, Severnaya Zemlya eddies carry anomalously cold and fresh water, and likely contribute to ventilation of the AW core. In addition, we found increased vertical shears of the horizontal velocities inside eddies that result in enhanced mixing. Our estimates made using the Pacanowski and Philander (1981) relationship suggest that, on average, vertical diffusivity coefficients inside eddies are four times larger than those in the surrounding waters. We will use the high resolution ECCO model to investigate the relative contributions of along and across slope transports induced by eddies along the ACBC path.