Circulation and Transformation of Winter Water in the Chukchi Sea
Circulation and Transformation of Winter Water in the Chukchi Sea
Abstract:
Pacific-origin winter water ventilates the halocline of the western
Arctic Ocean and transports nutrients throughout the region. It is
therefore important to determine how the water circulates after it
passes through Bering strait and what factors influence its physical
and chemical characteristics. Using a variety of in-situ data sources
we investigate the properties and pathways of Pacific-origin winter
water as it spreads across the eastern Chukchi shelf in early
summer. A revised circulation scheme is constructed revealing that the
transport pathways on the shelf are more complex than previously
thought. Mass is conserved in the circulation scheme, with
approximately the same amount of water flowing poleward across the
estern Chukchi shelf within the locus of the pathways as that exiting
Barrow Canyon. Using sea ice concentration data, atmospheric
reanalysis fields, and a simple model, we determine how the winter
water can be transformed north of Bering Strait within polynyas. The
predicted salinization of the water column matches the in-situ
observations, demonstrating that local convection on the Chukchi shelf
can significantly alter the characteristics of the winter water, and,
by inference, its fate in the basin.
Arctic Ocean and transports nutrients throughout the region. It is
therefore important to determine how the water circulates after it
passes through Bering strait and what factors influence its physical
and chemical characteristics. Using a variety of in-situ data sources
we investigate the properties and pathways of Pacific-origin winter
water as it spreads across the eastern Chukchi shelf in early
summer. A revised circulation scheme is constructed revealing that the
transport pathways on the shelf are more complex than previously
thought. Mass is conserved in the circulation scheme, with
approximately the same amount of water flowing poleward across the
estern Chukchi shelf within the locus of the pathways as that exiting
Barrow Canyon. Using sea ice concentration data, atmospheric
reanalysis fields, and a simple model, we determine how the winter
water can be transformed north of Bering Strait within polynyas. The
predicted salinization of the water column matches the in-situ
observations, demonstrating that local convection on the Chukchi shelf
can significantly alter the characteristics of the winter water, and,
by inference, its fate in the basin.