The Effects of Glacial and Oceanic Advection on Spatial Patterns of Freshwater Contents and Temperatures of Small Fjords and Major Basins in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Using spatial principal component (PC) analysis, the variation in freshwater contents and temperatures in the upper 100m are quantified for small fjords and primary basins within Prince William Sound, Alaska. Two EOF modes explain over 90% of the variance in the freshwater content anomalies (FWCA) giving the total magnitude and vertical structure of the FWCAs respectively. Large, positive PC amplitudes (PCAs) of modes 1 and 2 indicate stratification from surface freshening, shown also by negative surface salinity anomalies, whereas positive FWCA PCAs in conjunction with negative mode 2 amplitudes infer higher subsurface freshening due to either vertical mixing or advection. In contrast, basins with negative mode 1 amplitudes are typically salty to slightly brackish, but the mode 2 PCAs determine if the FWC is concentrated near the surface or mixed deeper in the water column. The vertical structure of the temperature anomalies (TA) is more complicated, and at least three EOF modes are required to explain over 90% of the variance. The reasons for this include differences in solar heating (i.e. local climates) modulated by cold alpine runoff and advection of cold, brackish surface and subsurface glacial water. Fjords and major basins influenced by the latter exhibit large, positive mode 1 amplitudes of FWCA and negative mode 1 and 2 PCAs of TA and FWCA respectively. In certain fjords, however, advection of glacial water into the outer basins enhances the total FWC, whereas other fjords exhibit atypically low FWC due to unusual topographic features of the watersheds and inner basins. This combination of factors leads to generally poor correlations between average FWC and watershed to fjord surface area ratios or hydrology. With exception of a few sites, gradients in FWC between the small fjords and major basins are relatively weak. Thus the main driver of baroclinic flow in northern and western PWS is cold, brackish surface and subsurface water propagating from large tidewater glacial fjords. The glacial water has a marked affect on the dynamic topography, which shows southerly baroclinic-geostrophic flows within the western sound. At Montague Strait and Hinchinbrook Entrance inflows may occur from either fresh or salty conditions; low water density of the latter being shown by negative (positive) FWCA (TA) PCAs respectively.