TY - JOUR
T1 - On the waters upstream of Nares Strait, Arctic Ocean, from 1991 to 2012
AU - Jackson, Jennifer M.
AU - Lique, Camille
AU - Alkire, Matthew
AU - Steele, Michael
AU - Lee, Craig M.
AU - Smethie, William M.
AU - Schlosser, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
For their help collecting Switchyard CTD data, we would like to thank Roger Andersen, Wendy Ermold, and Nicholas Michel-Hart from the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, and Dale Chayes, Richard Perry, Robert Williams, and Ronny Friedrich from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. For their help collecting Switchyard mooring data, we would like to thank Jason Gobat, Adam Huxtable, and Jim Johnson from the Applied Physics Laboratory. The Ice-Tethered Profiler data were collected and made available by the Ice-Tethered Profiler Program based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ( http://www.whoi.edu/itp ). The NCEP Reanalysis data were provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/ . This study uses a numerical experiment carried out within the European DRAKKAR project. The simulation has been run at the IDRIS CNRS-GENCI computer center in Orsay, France, by R. Dussin. M. Steele, C. Lee, W. Smethie, and P. Schlosser acknowledge support from the Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments that greatly improved this paper.
PY - 2014/2/1
Y1 - 2014/2/1
N2 - The Lincoln Sea is a bifurcation point, where waters from the Canadian and Eurasian Basins flow to Nares or Fram Strait. Mechanisms that control which waters are found in the Lincoln Sea, and on its continental shelves, are unknown. Using conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD; from hydrographic and ice-tethered profiler surveys), nutrient, and mooring data with the DRAKKAR global 3-D coupled ocean/sea-ice model, the Lincoln Sea was examined from 1991 to 2012. Although both Pacific and Atlantic waters were observed on the North Ellesmere and North Greenland shelves, Atlantic water was shallower on the North Greenland shelf. Thus, deeper than 125m, water was warmer and saltier on the North Greenland shelf than the North Ellesmere shelf. Three different water types were identified on the North Ellesmere shelf - waters from the Canadian Basin were observed 1992, 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2012, waters from both the Canadian and Eurasian Basins were observed in 2003, 2004, and 2008, and waters with no temperature minima or maxima below the surface mixed layer were observed in 1991, 2006, 2009, and 2010. Mixing with vertical advection speeds of 1×10-4ms-1 were observed on the continental slope and this mixing could cause the disappearance of the temperature maxima. Model results suggest that currents on the North Ellesmere shelf were weak (less than 10cms-1), baroclinic, and directed away from Nares Strait while currents on the North Greenland shelf were stronger (less than 15cms-1), and primarily directed towards Nares Strait. CTD, mooring, and model results suggest that the water advected to Nares Strait is primarily from the North Greenland shelf while water on the North Ellesmere shelf is advected westward.
AB - The Lincoln Sea is a bifurcation point, where waters from the Canadian and Eurasian Basins flow to Nares or Fram Strait. Mechanisms that control which waters are found in the Lincoln Sea, and on its continental shelves, are unknown. Using conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD; from hydrographic and ice-tethered profiler surveys), nutrient, and mooring data with the DRAKKAR global 3-D coupled ocean/sea-ice model, the Lincoln Sea was examined from 1991 to 2012. Although both Pacific and Atlantic waters were observed on the North Ellesmere and North Greenland shelves, Atlantic water was shallower on the North Greenland shelf. Thus, deeper than 125m, water was warmer and saltier on the North Greenland shelf than the North Ellesmere shelf. Three different water types were identified on the North Ellesmere shelf - waters from the Canadian Basin were observed 1992, 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2012, waters from both the Canadian and Eurasian Basins were observed in 2003, 2004, and 2008, and waters with no temperature minima or maxima below the surface mixed layer were observed in 1991, 2006, 2009, and 2010. Mixing with vertical advection speeds of 1×10-4ms-1 were observed on the continental slope and this mixing could cause the disappearance of the temperature maxima. Model results suggest that currents on the North Ellesmere shelf were weak (less than 10cms-1), baroclinic, and directed away from Nares Strait while currents on the North Greenland shelf were stronger (less than 15cms-1), and primarily directed towards Nares Strait. CTD, mooring, and model results suggest that the water advected to Nares Strait is primarily from the North Greenland shelf while water on the North Ellesmere shelf is advected westward.
KW - Arctic Ocean
KW - Lincoln Sea
KW - Nares Strait
KW - Ocean circulation
KW - Water mass modification
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U2 - 10.1016/j.csr.2013.11.025
DO - 10.1016/j.csr.2013.11.025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84890830103
SN - 0278-4343
VL - 73
SP - 83
EP - 96
JO - Continental Shelf Research
JF - Continental Shelf Research
ER -